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LIONEL MESSI last night vowed to help Celtic into the last 16 of the Champions League as a tribute to their “amazing” fans.

The Barcelona superstar and his team can do the Scottish champions a massive favour on Wednesday night as Group G reaches its climax.

While Celtic host Spartak Moscow in their final match of the group, Benfica travel to the Nou Camp to

tackle Tito Vilanova’s Spanish cracks.

Victory for Barca over the Portuguese would leave Neil Lennon’s team needing just a point from the game against the Russians to move into the knockout phase.

And Messi has assured Celtic he’ll be doing his utmost to beat Benfica, despite the fact his side have already booked their passage into the next stage as group winners.

The Argentine’s double in the 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga at the weekend took his tally for the year to 84 and leaves him just one short of equalling Gerd Muller’s scoring record from 1972.

Messi has targeted the Benfica game to match Muller’s milestone and says he’d be delighted to give Lennon’s team a helping hand in the process.

While the twinkle-toed magician may not have agreed with the style of play adopted by Celtic in their two games against Barcelona, he is full of admiration for the passionate fans and reckons they deserve to take the next step.

Messi said: “The Celtic fans deserve to be in Europe.

“They have been amazing in both games we have played against them recently.

“We knew what they were going to be like in Glasgow.

“But the way they were in Barcelona after they had just lost in the way they did was amazing.

“I have never seen anything like that before.

“We have not always been supportive of the way that Celtic try and play football.

“However, their fans deserve the knockout stages of the Champions League as I think the competition would be a quieter place without them.”