Lionel Messi has 'completed football', gushes Tottenham's Harry Winks | OneFootball

While Spurs lost to Barcelona 4-2 in Wednesday’s Champions League clash, the midfielder claimed it was an honour to play against the Argentine.

“To play against him was an honour,” he told the Evening Standard. “The result takes away a lot of the enjoyment from the game, but in years to come, when I look back and say I played against — in my opinion — the greatest player to ever play football, it will be a proud moment.

“It’s so difficult to reflect on that right now because we’ve lost and, ultimately, that’s the most important thing. I’m gutted.

“The only way I can really describe [facing him] is he’s just completed football. The man just knows where everybody is. His weight of pass is just exceptional. He’s just special. But everyone who has played against him has said the same thing for years.

Despite the defeat and being critical of his own performance, Winks was pleased to test himself against one of the world’s best midfields and believes he will learn from it.

“For me, it was special to play against a player like that. I learnt a lot from it. I’ll watch the game back and I’ll dissect my game. There were times when I gave the ball away sloppily, which wasn’t good enough.

“Rubbing shoulders with players like [Ivan] Rakitic and [Sergio] Busquets is always a good lesson to learn from. I went into the game respecting them, but at the same time you’ve got to go out there to kill them.”