BARCELONA (Reuters) - Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde paid tribute on Friday to Lionel Messi's "permanent competitiveness", after the five-times world player of the year dragged Argentina into next year's World Cup with a hat-trick against Ecuador last Tuesday. Messi has been in free-scoring form for his club this season, hitting 11 goals in seven Liga games and 14 in all competitions. Valverde, however, said no-one at Barca has ever doubted their all-time top scorer. "Messi does what he did the other day (in Ecuador) permanently and we all expected him to deliver and he did. "Atletico know how to make their goals count.

Source: The Star October 13, 2017 17:26 UTC