Barcelona hero Javier Mascherano has spoken of playing with Lionel Messi.

Mascherano has returned home to Argentina this season to play with Estudiantes.

He said of his Barca teammate: "Whenever I refer to Leo I say the same thing. In football there is decision making and execution. Most players make good decisions, but they don't execute it in the best way or the other way around: execution is good but it ends up being not the best decision. And he normally does both.

"And at the speed with which he plays. So he is different."

Mascherano also pointed out that “in addition, Leo knows how to rest and that allows him, within a game, to have seven, eight or ten important actions, at 100%. That is his ability to dominate the game.

"Normally, the game dominates us all. It takes you, you carry out different actions, because the rival or the game invites you to do that. In the case of Leo, it is the other way around: he decides what to do or not to do with the game. So he's from another planet."