Can proudly say I coached Lionel Messi: Argentina coach

A coach is ideally expected to treat all his players equally. After Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou, Argentina manager - Alejandro Sabella - is finding it a little hard to tame his appreciation for Lionel Messi.

The Argentine and Barcelona striker struck 5 goals for his club in the Champions League match on Tuesday night. After the sublime performance, Sabella has reportedly been quoted as saying that newer adjectives need are required to describe the 'genius.' "As well as playing a great team, Messi has so much ability that he doesn't even need a chance. What he's doing is unique. He doesn't seem to me to be comparable to any of the others," Sabella was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

Going as far as to say that the current era may well be called the 'Messi era,' Sabella said that he can proudly say that he coached the player. "There was the era of [Alfredo] Di Stefano, the era of Pele and the era of [Diego] Maradona. But now is Messi era. This is the reign of Messi."

57-year-old Sabella however added that it was important to provide Messi with all the support that he required so that the player can further improve his game.