Barcelona president Joan Laporta declared Lionel Messi the greatest EVER after his hat-trick against Real Zaragoza. Messi again lit up Barca with a thrilling hat-trick last night.

"He's the best player in the world and the history of football. Along with [Johan] Cruyff and [Diego] Maradona he is the best we've seen in Barcelona," Laporta told Canal +.

"He's played a great match, he is a football genius and he plays for the team. He is the leader of Barcelona. Also he thinks about his team-mates after he handed the penalty to [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic to score."