"Like Jordan, Messi is simply the greatest to have played the game"

Gary Lineker, the former Barcelona striker and currently a pundit for the 'BBC', says that watching Leo Messi play again "is perhaps the one thing we will be able to enjoy about football without fans."

The 'BBC', in the sports section of their website, have dedicated this Saturday to Leo Messi. "There will be a 'Messi Day' this Saturday on BBC Sport', the UK's main TV channel said. Content on the page includes some of Messi's best goals, a trivia game and a column written by Gary Lineker. 

"Every time I watch him, even on his quiet days, there are moments when you just go 'how does he do that?' He does things three or four times in one game that I probably never managed once in my entire career. He does things no-one else can," Lineker, who also played for Barca, explained.

Lineker also compared Messi to Michael Jordan. "Jordan is a very different personality, and much more outgoing, but you could describe Messi in the same way - as an icon whose impact and ability far transcends his own sport. In the same way you don't have to appreciate basketball to appreciate Jordan, you do not have to be a football fan to get pure joy from watching Messi. Like Jordan, he is simply the greatest to have ever played the game," Lineker continued.

Among the best moments of Messi's career included in the 'BBC's video include his first hat-trick against Real Madrid in 2007, his incredible Maradona-esque goal versus Getafe in the same year, the goal which sealed the 2009 Champions League final in Rome over Man Utd, when he scored four against Arsenal at the Camp Nou, his six Ballon d'Ors and his 91 goals in a calendar year in 2012.

"We haven't seen him for more than two months now because of the coronavirus pandemic but it looks like La Liga will be resuming behind closed doors very soon in Spain. It won't be the same without a crowd, there's no question of that, but Messi is perhaps the one thing we will be able to enjoy about football without fans," Lineker concluded.