Madrid: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had words of praise for striker Lionel Messi, who made history by becoming the football club's leading scorer Tuesday.

Messi's hat-trick in Barca's 5-3 win at home to Granada not only took his total to 34 goals in La Liga, it took his overall tally at the club to 234. By getting to that figure, Messi has overtaken Cesar as the highest scorer.

The Spanish press has once again almost run out of words to describe the achievements of the Barcelona striker and speaking in el Mundo Deportivo Wednesday morning, Guardiola admitted that he also struggled to describe Messi's feats.

"Everything has been said about Messi," he said.

"He doesn't score goals, he scores great goals and each one is almost better than the previous one. He has scored 234 goals as a 24-year-old and he does it day after day," continued Guardiola.

"We are looking at absolutely the best player. He is able to do everything a footballer has to do and he does it every third day. There has never been anyone like him, he is different, and we are very happy to have him here and to live with him. I hope he stays for a long time."

Guardiola compared Messi with basketball legend Michael Jordan.

"Jordan dominated his sport and this lad dominates his," he added. (IANS)