Pedro praises Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi
Barcelona winger Pedro Rodriguez has revealed his admiration for team-mate Lionel Messi, claiming that the Argentine is in a league of his own.
The Spaniard became an established part of the Barca first team last season and was able to play a part in Messi’s hugely-successful campaign which saw the forward net 34 goals — helping Barca win their second La Liga title in a row. Messi also claimed the
European Golden Shoe for being the player who scored the most goals in all of Europe’s top divisions last season.
Messi is widely considered to be the front-runner to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year — an award he is the current holder of — and Pedro revealed his belief that no other player can compare to the talented 23-year-old.
'Messi is irreplaceable'
He told reporters at a press conference on Friday that: “He is the best player in the world, and he has no comparison with any other player. Lionel Messi is irreplaceable, but we have won games when he hasn’t been playing. He works hard every day and it
shows on the field. He always wants to further himself and play here for a long time.”
Messi, however, will have been frustrated by the defensive tactics that Barcelona’s opponents tend to employ in a bid to stifle him along with his team-mates Pedro, David Villa and Andres Iniesta. Such a situation occurred this week then the Catalan giants
took on Russian champions Rubin Kazan in a UEFA Champions League match this week, a game that ended 1-1.
However, Pedro added that conservative play by opponents would still be unable to stop Barca from carving out scoring opportunities.
He said that: “Opposing teams defend against us a lot, but we are creating chances. We had many in Kazan, and we have to improve our aim for the games to come, but we are working well. We can improve our performance in front of goal, but we are calm about
the situation.”
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