Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard admits Lionel Messi deserves to draw comparisons with Argentine great Diego Maradona.

Rijkaard said: "Hopefully Messi can someday be like Maradona. I do not like to speak of these things about Messi, because you only need to see him on the field to realise he already is a pleasure to watch.

"Over the years, the great players learn to play better automatically, because they know what is better for him and for the team. Maradona almost could play from memory, he had it inside him, it was his instinct."