In ALL the time I have been watching football in my life, I don’t think I have ever seen an opposition crowd give an in-game standing ovation to a player like Real Betis did to Lionel Messi on Sunday.

It is nice when you see a piece of skill like his chip, which was out of this world, and how delicate it was; fans just standing and applauding – it was amazing to see.

It shows how good he is and you can’t stop him.

He doesn’t seem to have gotten worse with age and it’s just fantastic to see him in our lifetime.

Messi himself was blown away by the reaction of the fans, which is rare, but I don’t think it’s the end of him just yet to appreciate that.

He’s got years left and I don’t think he’s going anywhere – he certainly isn’t going to play for another football club.

He doesn’t seem to have that arrogances that others do and he is certainly seeming to be enjoying his football and will do so until he declines.

On that, I don’t think he’ll drag his career out and will know the time to stop but at the moment, he’s probably thinking why would I? And unless he gets a bad injury at some point, then I just can’t see that being for a while just yet.

There is always debate on whether he is the greatest ever but if you look at him winning titles – Barcelona have won eight titles in his 13-year career – then he has to be considered one of the best.

The best win things and he’s been absolutely phenomenal, plus his own individual accolades such as the Ballon D’or – he’s got to be in the top three best ever footballers.

The game will be a poorer place when he eventually decides to retire – we really are lucky to watch him play.

This type of player doesn’t come around all the time and in the last 50 years, there is only a handful of people who can rival what he’s done including Cristiano Ronaldo.

When they both go, where are the next ones?

I can’t see one jumping out at me, saying they’re the next Messi or Ronaldo, and the reason they do well is because of how much they have pushed each other in setting records.