One question used to haunt me when I made my decision to retire: could anything ever give me the buzz again that I got from playing?

Two years on, I’ve found the answer — and it is a resounding ‘yes’. Watching Lionel Messi mesmerise in the flesh almost replaces the surge of adrenaline I used to get from winning trophies.

It was a privilege to be in the Nou Camp on Wednesday and when Messi scored that magical second goal to flatten Bayern Munich, the reaction in the Sky studio was as frenzied as the Catalans who surrounded us; we were all out of our seats, shouting, screaming and acclaiming his genius.

Lionel Messi's exquisite chip over Manuel Neuer took the breath away as Barca captivated in the Nou Camp

Messi bewitches Jerome Boateng on his way to scoring that magnificent second goal of the game

Barca stand on the brink of reaching their fourth Champions League final in ten years after Messi's brilliance

Some of the things he did were extraordinary and there was a real sense that Messi wanted to show Pep Guardiola it was his Barcelona team, not the one Guardiola left behind.

Inevitably, there was a rush to label him the best there has ever been. Those who don’t believe Messi deserves that tag will always argue he hasn’t won the World Cup, given Pele won it three times and Diego Maradona lit up Mexico in 1986.

But what about declaring Messi to be the greatest club footballer of all time? His achievements over the last decade have been so breathtaking that you could say he has outstripped those who have gone before — and it is quite possible we will never see them bettered.

The men with whom we are comparing him are gods — Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Alfredo di Stefano. Pele doesn’t enter the debate. He won 10 league titles and two Copa Libertadores with Santos but I feel European competition has always been more competitive.

Johan Cruyff, the totem of Rinus Michels' Total Football, won the European Cup three years in a row with Ajax

Franz Beckenbauer, pictured after 1975's win against Leeds, and Bayern Munich repeated the feat

Franz Beckenbauer (No 5) puts in a bonecrunching tackle on Leeds' Allan Clarke in the 1975 European Cup final

Alfredo di Stefano's goals helped Real Madrid make it five European Cups in a row in 1960

First it was said there would never be anyone better than Di Stefano, who won five consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid and scored in each of the finals, but then along came Cruyff with triple European Cup winners Ajax. Total Football changed the way the game was played.

Cruyff’s magic was not confined to Amsterdam, and when he moved to Barcelona he helped them win La Liga for the first time in 13 years. But they never made an impression on the European Cup because Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich had come to the fore.

Beckenbauer lifted three European Cups with Bayern and it shows what influence this two-time Ballon D’Or winner had that even today when we see defenders elegantly taking the ball out from the back, his is the name we reference.

Some will argue, though, that Maradona — another former Barcelona player — stands alone because of his exploits during the seven years he spent at Napoli between 1984 and 1991, when it is often said he took them to two Serie A titles single-handedly.

That wasn’t the case. Maradona was a wizard and, without him, Napoli would not have had that golden era. But he was never Serie A’s top scorer when they won the Scudetto. In 1987, he got 10; in 1990, his tally of 16 was beaten by Marco van Basten and Roberto Baggio.

Messi ended an exhausting season on an unsatifactory note as Argentina lost the World Cup final to Germany

Pele celebrates his third World Cup final win in 1970 after masterful Brazil trounced an excellent Italy side

Diego Maradona skips past Peter Reid on the way to scoring his seminal second goal against England in 1986

He was also aided by a raft of Italy internationals, notably the outstanding defender Ciro Ferrara, plus a high-class Brazilian midfielder in Alemao. By 1990, another Brazilian — Careca — was part of the forward line. In both their title-winning campaigns, Napoli's defensive record was outstanding, especially in 1987 when they only conceded 21 goals in 30 games.

Maradona, significantly, never had any history in the European Cup. The first time Napoli entered in 1987, they were knocked out in the first round by Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate. They didn’t fare much better in 1990, when losing to Spartak Moscow on penalties in the second round.

True, he won the UEFA Cup in 1989 but his only goals for Napoli in the European Cup came against the Hungarian side Ujpest Dozsa. To be the greatest club player of all time, you have to leave an indelible mark on the greatest club competition there is.

Messi keeps doing just that. It gets said that the standards in La Liga are not taxing for him and Cristiano Ronaldo but look at Messi’s record in the Champions League: he now has an astonishing 77 goals — two of which defined finals against Manchester United in Rome (2009) and at Wembley (2011) — in just 97 games. His consistency is remarkable.

Maradona is worshipped in Naples after bringing the Scudetto to the Stadio San Paolo for the first time

Messi defies his diminutive stature to nod Xavi's cross beyond Edwin van der Sar to seal Barca's 2009 win

Six United players track the peerless Messi as he terrorises Sir Alex Ferguson's men two years later

He has taken Barcelona to heights they had never known. During his time, they have turned one European Cup into four with the promise of a fifth in Berlin next month. They have also dominated Spanish football and a sixth league title in 10 years is within their grasp.

I understand the game is now not as physical as it used to be in the days of Maradona and Cruyff but they never had to endure the scrutiny and exposure that comes with today’s game, the constant analysis of performances and the pressure to produce results, which Messi has to deal with.

How I would love the chance to play against him now. The only time I came up against him during my career was in a Champions League last-16 contest in 2007, when he was a 19-year-old right winger. He was quiet in those two games but he was always destined for greatness.

Alvaro Arbelo and Dirk Kuyt keep close tabs on Messi as Liverpool beat the Catalans on away goals in 2007

Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League scoring record was snatched back by Messi after his Bayern brace

The job of facing the 27-year-old, who is now scoring 50 or 60 goals a season from his free role, however, is now the most difficult in football, as the unfortunate Jerome Boateng found out to his cost on Wednesday.

Quite simply, Messi has been the greatest player in the best club team we have ever seen. How many years will we have to wait to see another like him?

Yaya will be missed but not his noisy agent

So, Yaya Toure’s agent has re-emerged to say it is ‘90 per cent certain’ the player is leaving Manchester City.

If that is the case, we would be saying goodbye to one of the best midfielders we have seen in the Barclays Premier League. Toure has had a poor season by the high standards he has set, yet he is still the highest-scoring midfielder in the division.

It seems as if this scenario has been building ever since Dimitri Seluk came out and claimed that City did not appreciate Toure; the comments about him not getting a birthday cake last year were just bizarre.

Yaya Toure is a quite magnificent player, but he is being poorly-advised by agent Dimitri Seluk

Had Toure been a young, immature player making his way in the game, you could say he was being badly advised. But, as a 31-year-old, it is embarrassing to let his agent come out and make such claims on his behalf.

When Toure speaks, he comes across as being very level-headed and a dignified figure. If the stories that have come from Seluk over the past 12 months are actually a true indication of Toure’s feelings, it would be a shame. It would have been better for him to keep things to himself.

I want to remember Toure as being one of the finest players to grace our league, athletic and powerful and someone you knew would produce a special moment in a big game. I don’t want to have my memory clouded by nonsense from Seluk. Others, I’m sure, will feel the same.

This week I'm looking forward to seeing Sevilla chase their unique double

The main European action this week took place in Turin and Barcelona but events in Seville should not be overlooked. A 3-0 win over Fiorentina in the first leg gives Sevilla an outstanding chance of reaching the Europa League final and retaining the trophy they won last year.

Many in this country criticise the Europa League but Sevilla’s achievements are all the more significant because they are only three points off fourth-placed Valencia in La Liga and have a great chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Sevilla celebrate their 3-0 victory over Fiorentina as Unai Emery's side look to defend the Europa League

Fiorentina keeper Norberto Neto lies helpless on the floor after Aleix Vidal hit his second of the game

Why can’t a team in the Barclays Premier League follow their example and see that the two competitions can be successfully managed? It does the Premier League no credit that we have had only two winners of the Europa League in the last 15 years and that has to change. Most worrying of all is that if English clubs continue to perform poorly in Europe, it will impact on our co-efficient standing with UEFA and it may eventually mean that we lose a Champions League place to Italy.

Juventus have a chance of reaching the Champions League final and Napoli are well-placed against Dnipro to reach the Europa League final.