Few footballers throughout history have been comparable to Lionel Messi.
Last week, Eden Hazard even suggested that there was only one possible greatest of all time when the question was put to him, answering that it was the Argentinian.
There are even doubts over whether Cristiano Ronaldo matches up to him, and he would be a generational talent in most eras.
And the level of approval for Messi jumped up another step this weekend when he scored his 400th La Liga goal for Barcelona.
That came against Eibar on Sunday evening and was followed by Real Madrid’s victory over Real Betis.
A player who shone in that game was Vinicius Junior, the 18-year-old Brazilian winger.
That led to comparisons between Vinicius and the elder statesman of La Liga following the wins by the two Spanish giants.
After Barcelona’s game, it was put to Messi’s team-mate Jordi Alba that there was a similarity.
A reporter asked: ‘In Madrid they compare Vinicius with Messi. What do you think about that?’
Alba replied simply to the reporter, simply commenting: ‘Goodnight!’
If there were any doubts over Alba’s feelings about Messi and Vinicius, they were clearly quickly cleared up.
