Pedri dismisses comparisons to Barcelona legend Lionel Messi

Barcelona went into Istanbul with a 0-0 draw against Galatasaray and although they were still the favourites to win, everyone knows that winning against a Turkish team on their home soil is quite difficult. Apart from that, the Turkish giants were very well organized in the first leg and they barely gave the Catalans any opportunity to attack their goal. Inaki Pena was on top form and Barca were left frustrated in the Camp Nou. In the second leg, Barca were again the ones with more possession however, against the run of play, they conceded a corner and Galatasaray opened the scoring.

Pedri opens up about the comparisons to Lionel Messi after wonder goal

The chase to level the score was then on and the Catalans had to pick up the tempo if they were going to get back into the game. Around 10 minutes after conceding the goal, Pedri scored one of the best goals for Barcelona in this season. It was a beautifully choreographed solo goal by the youngster and he made the whole Turkish defence look foolish. It was so good in fact that many compared him with Lionel Messi. However, the youngster was quick to claim that he is nowhere near Messi and that the Argentine had many better goals. He said in the post-match conference,

"“No way! Messi has scored much better goals. It is crazy to compare me with Messi,”“I don’t really remember the goal, though, so I will have to watch it back. I remember Ferran [Torres] gave me the ball, I feinted [inside] because I saw a leg coming and again, I think, until I shot.”_source Goal"

The goal was a beauty indeed and although Pedri makes it sound like he was not in full control of his actions, that is what makes him a great footballer. The ability to instinctively create space and deceive opponents is a gift that cannot be learnt. The young Spaniard has a lot going for him right now and although he will not be scoring goals like this regularly, he is already on his way to becoming one of the greatest in Barca.

Do you think Pedri can match the levels of Messi one day? Let us know in the comments down below.