Santos star Neymar says he's nowhere near the class of Barcelona ace Lionel Messi.

Neymar insists he is a long way off reaching the Argentina international's level.

"Messi is above everyone, there is no use comparing me with him," he said. "He is the best player in the world and I always get inspired when I watch good football.

"Everyone thinks, if he can do it, so can I - but it's very difficult to do what Messi does.

"We saw Barcelona win with seven goals and Santos tried to do something similar, but we don't have Messi."