Lucien Favre on Lionel Messi: 'You Have to Commit a Foul in Order to Stop Him'

Lucien Favre and Mats Hummels both praised Lionel Messi's performance in Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. 

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was in irresistible form for the hosts at the Camp Nou.

He crafted goals for Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann and also scored himself to set yet another new benchmark:

The victory guaranteed Barcelona top spot in Group F and left Dortmund needing to better Inter Milan's result on the final matchday of the group stage in order to qualify to the knockout rounds.

Favre said, in that kind of form, the only way to stop Messi is to foul him:

"He played as a false nine and was simply incredible. He waits really well for the ball and moves very well between the lines. And when he gets the ball, it gets pretty complicated. You have to commit a foul in order to stop him. Otherwise it's very, very difficult. He is speeding up so fast, his dribbling is so good and then his final pass is also very dangerous."

Centre-back Hummels, whose misplaced pass led to Messi's goal, believes there is no player better than the 32-year-old.

"In top form, Messi is the best footballer I have ever seen—period," he said.

Dortmund's defeat piles further pressure on Favre after recent poor results in the Bundesliga.

Before the international break, Dortmund were thrashed 4-0 by rivals Bayern Munich, and last Friday they had to come back from 3-0 down against bottom-of-the-table Paderborn just to earn a point:

Last season under Favre, BVB pushed Bayern all the way in the Bundesliga title race, eventually finishing just two points behind the Munich giants.

After 12 games of the 2019-20 campaign, Dortmund sit sixth, five points back from leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have rarely played their best football this season, but they have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare and are top of La Liga.

They are back in action in the Spanish top flight on Sunday, when they visit Atletico Madrid.