Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that Lionel Messi is the most incredible player he had faced during his playing career. The 41-year-old suffered an embarrassing 4-0 league defeat to Manchester United during his managerial debut with the Blues last weekend but he is hoping to redeem himself in the forthcoming European Super Cup clash with Liverpool.

Speaking ahead of that game, Lampard was asked about the best player he had faced during his playing career and he happened to mention three players including Messi, who is reckoned as the best of the rest, he said: “Can I give you two answers? It’ll actually be three. The first one is Messi because he was the most incredible player – it was like you were playing against someone who’s not on the same level as all of us. The two players I always remember having the hardest time against were Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta at Barcelona. They just played football around you, and you didn’t get near them. It was football that wasn’t normal to me; it was different from anything else I came up against.”

Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge has witnessed a mini transition with a number of young players getting the chance to impress. Among those, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham were handed with their maiden league starts for the Bluesat Old Trafford over the weekend but they could not find the cutting edge to their gameplay as the club suffered a forgettable afternoon.

On Wednesday night, the west London giants make the trip to Istanbul for the European Super Cup against Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side are the favourites for the game with the better defensive and attacking options but they can’t take things lightly, given Lampard has said that the Blues will come up with a renewed vigour with a trophy up for grabs.