Luis Enrique pays tribute to Lionel Messi

Barcelona's coach Luis Enrique celebrates after the UEFA Champions League Final football match between Juventus and FC Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on June 6, 2015
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Barcelona boss Luis Enrique brands Lionel Messi "the essence of football" after the Catalan giants claimed the Spanish Super Cup for a 12th time.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has branded Lionel Messi "the essence of football" and claimed that the Argentine would be the best player in the world in any position on the field.

Messi inspired his team to a 3-0 win over Sevilla in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday night, setting up Arda Turan's opener before scoring the third himself with a header.

Enrique has said that the 29-year-old, who has scored 454 goals in 533 appearances for the Catalan giants, is capable of creating "incredible situations" on the field.

"He will be a spark all his life. He creates incredible situations. If you put him at full-back he would be the best in the world. Messi is the essence of football and age won't harm him because when he's missing the physical, he'll substitute it for his intelligence," AS quotes Enrique as saying.

Messi hit 41 goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona during the 2015-16 season.

Luis Enrique looks on prior to the Champions League round-of-16 second leg between Barcelona and Arsenal on March 16, 2016
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona11006243
2Real Madrid11003033
3Sevilla11006423
4Las PalmasLas Palmas11004223
5Deportivo La CorunaDeportivo11002113
6Sporting GijonSporting Gijon11002113
7Leganes11001013
8AlavesAlaves10101101
9Atletico MadridAtletico10101101
10Granada10101101
11Malaga10101101
12Osasuna10101101
13Villarreal10101101
14Athletic Bilbao100112-10
15EibarEibar100112-10
16Celta Vigo100101-10
17Espanyol100146-20
18Valencia100124-20
19Real Sociedad100103-30
20Real Betis100126-40
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