Nobody wants to meet Messi in Champions League draw, says Thierry Henry
Published 23:00 18/03/10 By David McDonnell and Darren Lewis
Lionel Messi is the reason Barcelona are the team everyone wants to avoid in today's Champions League quarter-final draw.
That is the view of Messi's Barca team-mate Thierry Henry, who hailed the brilliance of the current World Player of the Year.
Manchester United and Arsenal could face each other in a repeat of last year's semi-final, as teams for the same country are no longer kept apart in the competition.
But Barca, who thumped Stuttgart 4-0 to complete the line-up for the last eight, are the favourites to retain the Champions League for the first time.
And Henry said no other player could come close to matching Messi on current form. "It's kind of ridiculous what he's doing," said Henry.
"He's amazing. I don't know if you can say he's playing better, but he's maintaining what he was doing and playing at a level where nobody from Barcelona wants him to stop."
Although Wayne Rooney, with 32 goals this season, is pushing Messi for the title of world's best player, the pint-sized Argentine would seem to have the edge.
"I think there's no doubting Messi is the best player in the world," said Stuttgart coach Christian Gross.
"His ability is incredible when you consider his age. I think it's fair to compare him to Diego Maradona."
Gary Neville hailed Rooney as United's answer to Messi. The United captain said: "You always try to progress every year as a footballer. "This season the difference with Wayne is his goalscoring in the air - he's become a real threat.
"He's got a good spring on him. He can't stop scoring and his goalscoring with his head is fantastic at the moment."
Bayern Munich, Bordeaux, Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow and Lyon complete the quarter-final line-up which takes place at 11am today.
Arsenal should pray to avoid Man United in Champions League, says Oleg Luyzhny
