Lionel Messi news: 'Messi is unstoppable,' Lyon coach concedes that Barcelona are favorites against them only because of the Argentine

What's the story?

Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais will be hosting LaLiga giants Barcelona, led by their in-form talisman Lionel Messi, in their UEFA Champions League RO16 fixture on Wednesday. Ahead of the clash, Lyon manager Bruno Genesio has told MARCA in an exclusive interview, that he has no specific plans for stopping the Barca #10, because he knows that the latter is simply unstoppable.

The Argentine superstar has hit a purple patch this season and has found the back of the net on 22 occasions in the Spanish league, while already scoring six times in four Champions League appearances.

In case you didn't know...

Messi has now scored 30 or more goals in each of the last 11 seasons for the Blaugrana in all competitions, matching Cristiano Ronaldo's record.

30 - Lionel Messi has scored 30+ goals in each of his last 11 seasons for @FCBarcelona in all competitions. Extraterrestrial. pic.twitter.com/abyokCMS2V

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 16, 2019

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was there again to help his side claim all the three points against Valladolid on Sunday, after scoring from the spot. Though he missed another penalty in the second half. And now he has missed more penalties than his arch-rival Ronaldo according to Calciomercato.

Messi overtook the Juventus ace in terms of missed penalties in his latest fixture, with the Portuguese having scored 114 from 139 penalties across all competitions, while Messi has taken 110 penalties, scoring 84 and missing 26.

The heart of the matter...

Barcelona have a good record against French teams in the Champions League and with them facing Lyon in their RO16 fixture, the latter club's coach Genesio, has conceded that it is useless to even plan to stop Messi, as he believes that the player is footballing genius and can score goals no matter what kind of strategy is used against him. He said:

"It is impossible to stop Messi. Messi can play whatever the strategy is because he is a footballing genius."

He also stressed that if his club focuses too much on stopping the left-footed magician, they will definitely lose. He continued:

"If we are content defending or try to stop Leo Messi, then we won't have any chance."

Though the Catalan club are the favourites in the upcoming tie, it should not be forgotten that Les Gones had clinched four points of the available six from their group stage meetings against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, earlier this season.

What's next?

Messi's phenomenal form this season has helped Barcelona stay seven points clear of Atletico Madrid in the league standings. Ernesto Valverde will be counting on his prized possession to shine in the Champions League as well.