Former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker has proclaimed Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the history of football.

The Argentine forward delivered an influential performance and set up Ivan Rakitic to score the only goal of the game as the Spanish side knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League this evening.

Lineker says that Messi's quality makes him outshine the likes of Barca teammate Luis Suarez and fellow Argentine Sergio Aguero.

"Messi is indisputably the greatest player ever to don a pair of football boots. Don't even attempt to argue the point," the Match of the Day host wrote on Twitter.

"A measure of Messi's greatness is that he makes world class players like Aguero and Suarez look distinctly ordinary by comparison."

Messi has scored 43 goals in 40 appearances so far this season.