Wednesday 3 June 2015 00:56, UK
Lionel Messi is “an extra-terrestrial who plays with us humans”, claims Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Buffon will come face-to-face with Messi when Juventus take on Barcelona in the Champions League final on Saturday night in Berlin.
And the World Cup winning goalkeeper Buffon is hoping that the Argentine will crash to earth in Berlin.
“So we hope that on June 6 he returns to earth and becomes a human too,” added Buffon.
Messi, who is aiming to become the first player to score in three Champions League finals, has netted 58 goals for Barcelona this campaign.
Buffon, however, is not only worried by Messi, whose partnership with Neymar and Luis Suarez has yielded 120 goals and help win the La Liga title and the Copa Del Rey.
"I think it's the strongest attacking trio in the world. They have an offensive power which is certainly scary but we also have weapons, not maybe to stop them with but to limit them a bit."
Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner has urged his fellow defenders to draw on their semi-final experience against Barcelona's La Liga rival Real Madrid.
Juventus beat Real Madrid 2-1 at home, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring for the Spanish side, and progressed following a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu, where they limited the Portugal star to a penalty.
"Messi is one of the best players in the history of football," Lichsteiner said.
"It's difficult to stop him for the whole 90 minutes but we did that with Ronaldo so I think that as a team we can do a lot. ... We'll defend as a squad, winning our individual duels, and trying not give him too much space."
Watch the Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus live on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday from 18:00
