Thierry Henry has spoken about former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi 's ego and insists it is only natural for someone so talented to know he is that good . Messi put on a masterclass against Manchester City as he nutmegged James Milner and Fernandinho , and was only denied his ninth goal of the tournament by the brilliant Joe Hart . Messi is often described as humble when compared to Cristiano Ronaldo , but Henry feels the Argentina captain having an ego is far from ' a bad thing ' . Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has spoken about former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi 's ego . Messi put on a masterclass against Manchester City on Wednesday night and only Joe Hart denied him . Messi was outstanding against City at the Nou Camp as he proved up there as the world 's best footballer . ' I 'm sad for him , and upset because people doubt him sometimes , ' said Sky Sports pundit Henry . 'They doubt him . How can you doubt a guy like that ? 'He put himself on a level where it 's impossible for me to hear people doubting this man . What he has done we should all enjoy the guy , like we did tonight . It is a pleasure . 'He has an ego . Of course he has an ego . Do you think you do that without having an ego ? It 's not a bad thing . Having an ego is not a bad thing . Knowing that you are good . You need that . 'Let 's all be honest . You need that . He just plays . If you ask him to play with you now just outside the dressing room , he will just want to have fun , perform and be the best out there . ' Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Henry was speaking on Sky Sports as a pundit for the match . Lineker feels Messi having an ego is 'not a bad thing ' as the Barca star should know how good he is . Messi might well be priceless as the Barcelona maestro yet again demonstrated his skills at the Nou Camp . It was an assist from Messi that created the game 's only goal against City as Ivan Rakitic was found in space to lob goalkeeper Hart in the 31st minute . Messi 's nutmegs left Milner on his backside , Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola covering his face , Gary Neville labelling it 'barbaric ' and Twitter reacting to the maestro 's masterclass . Among those was Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker , who went one further than just settling the debate about who is better between Messi and Real Madrid 's Ronaldo . 'Messi is indisputably the greatest player ever to don a pair of football boots , ' former England striker Lineker tweeted . 'Do n't even attempt to argue the point . ' A measure of Messi 's greatness is that he makes world class players like [ Sergio ] Aguero and [ Luis ] Suarez look distinctly ordinary by comparison . ' England legend Gary Lineker settled the argument of who 's better between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo . Match of the Day presenter Lineker added more about Messi 's greatness following his masterclass . James Milner approaches Barcelona star Lionel Messi during their Champions League tie on Wednesday . Milner slides as Messi nutmegs him and ends up on his backside as the Barca star showed off his skills . Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola reacts to the nutmeg in the stands at the Nou Camp . Bayern Munich manager Guardiola reacts to the ridiculous skill from Messi during the Barca match . Manchester United 's Ashley Young was among those admiring the Barcelona star and wrote : 'Messi WOW ' Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin wrote that Guardiola 's reaction said it all about Messi 's skills . Liverpool defender Jose Enrique wrote Messi could play against City on his own and 'still win the game ' Matt Le Tissier tweeted about how he was sitting back and watching Messi work his magic in Barcelona . Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland echoed Gary Neville by 'watching the game with my legs closed ' Dutch manager Ruud Gullit took to Twitter and added : 'OMG . Messi made Milner famous ' Former Chelsea player Andre Schurrle wrote about Messi 's nutmegs : 'Again and again and again ... ' Darts player Adrian 'Jackpot ' Lewis wrote on Twitter that 'Messi could nutmeg a mermaid ' Crystal Palace defender Joel Ward simply used the hashtag # Messi with prayer emoticons . Former Manchester United and now-Leicester City forward Tom Lawrence added : 'Messi is a joke ' Yannick Bolasie tweeted 'Messi is something else ' as Barcelona gave Manchester City a masterclass . Bolton 's on-loan midfielder Barry Bannan wrote Messi 'ai n't human ' after his ridiculous skills . VIDEO Enrique hails 'special night ' for Barca .
the Champions League beat Manchester 1-0 ( agg 3-1 ) in Barcelona . Lionel Messi was outstanding for Barca as they knocked City out . Messi nutmegged James Milner , leaving the midfielder on his backside . Thierry Henry insists it is only natural for someone so good to have an ego . Gary Lineker took to Twitter to label Messi the 'greatest player ever '