Lionel Messi has showered praise on one Premier League star, describing him as “the beast”.
Lionel Messi will go down in history as one of, if not the, greatest players in the history of the beautiful sport. The Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and Inter Miami legend has won an incredible eight Ballon d’Or trophies more than any other player, as well as four UEFA Champions League titles throughout his illustrious career.
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At the national team level, he has lifted the FIFA World Cup as well as two Copa Américas.
Any compliment from Messi is really high praise, and now the 38-year-old has singled out one Premier League star.
Emiliano Martínez has established himself as one of the finest goalkeepers in the English top flight in recent years, helping Aston Villa back to Europe and impressing with his crucial saves. – Aston Villa, who brought home an important win on Wednesday against Brighton, are currently in 3rd place in the Premier League.
He has also been a key player for Argentina, playing a massive role in their World Cup triumph in Qatar back in 2022.
The goalkeeper helped his team to penalty shootout victories over the Netherlands and France in the quarterfinals and final.
Now, Messi has referred to his international teammate as “The Beast”.
“In the last [game] we were lucky that, even though we were the better team in both the Netherlands and France game, we had to go to penalties and there we had the beast that was [Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez] Dibu who made us win,” he said during an interview with ESPN.
“But you can get to penalties and not win.”
Argentina have already qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Messi is expected to be a key player for Argentina once again.
Martínez wasn’t the only Premier League star Messi had good words for.
He called his former manager at Barcelona, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, the best in the world during the same interview.
“For me, Guardiola is unique,” Messi added. “There are exceptionally good coaches, but he has something different. To me, he is the best of them all. When it comes to seeing things, preparing for games and communicating with the players, he is very complete.”
Messi continued: “He’s the best and we were lucky to have him at Barcelona. He came together with the players we had, and the right pieces fell into place for what he had in mind, to achieve everything that was achieved.”
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