'They wanted to hit Messi, but he put up with it'

Lionel Messi's cousin Maxi Biancucchi has said he could rarely believe the things the Argentine football ace would do at the tender age of eight or nine.

"When he was eight or nine, I would get up early on Saturdays to watch him play and he'd do impressive things. I could not believe it," Biancucchi told Ataque Futbolero via Ole.

He added that since Messi, a record six Ballon d'Or winner, was short people in their neighbourhood would ask him to be removed from the pitch.

"In the neighbourhood he played with us, we were bigger than him, and they told us: 'Crazy, get him out because we are going to kill him.' They wanted to hit him, but he put up with it."

Messi had joined Newell's Old Boys as a child but then moved to Spain to play for FC Barcelona in 2011. Biancucchi said while he is eager to watch Messi play for Newell's, a return is unlikely.

"Leo has a lot of love for Argentina, people never understand that," Biancucchi said.

"It is my dream to be able to see Leo at Newell's, but I see it as complicated. It is difficult, imagine that Messi plays a Classico, the kids have to go to school...the city is hell."

Recently, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he finds Messi a notch higher than Ronaldo.

"For me Messi, but I couldn't admire Ronaldo more than I do already. The explanation is the following. We've played against both already and both are almost impossible to defend. But Messi has much lower physical requirements from birth on," Klopp told freekickerz in a video uploaded on their YouTube channel.

"If you could paint yourself a perfect player, it would have Ronaldo's height, he could jump and run as high or quick as Ronaldo can do.

"And what is then even added to that is his total attitude, it is absolutely perfect and professional, it couldn't be any better," the 2019-20 Champions League winning coach added.