Franz Beckenbauer believes Barcelona would be a far different club without Lionel Messi.

"Messi's amazing," Beckenbauer told L'Equipe. "For several months now, he has rediscovered his best form.

"For Barcelona, he is the one that makes the difference. Without Messi, Barcelona would be just another team.

"It's like when Bayern destroyed Barca in the semifinals of the Champions League two years ago [winning 7-0 on aggregate] and Messi was not right.

"But now he is the best player in the world and of his time.

"However, the best ever is Pele. He is just ahead of Messi. I've never seen a player like Pele.

"I played with him at the New York Cosmos and you would give him the ball and just not see him again because he was too fast.

"Pele was all instinct."