Antonio Conte paid tribute to Lionel Messi after the Barcelona forward took his Champions League tally to 100 goals to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League.

Messi netted twice and set up Ousmane Dembele’s goal in Barcelona’s 3-0 last-16 second-leg victory at the Camp Nou.

Despite the fact the La Liga leaders won 4-1 on aggregate, Conte insisted he was proud of Chelsea’s performance. Having hit the post twice in the first leg, Chelsea struck the woodwork on two occasions in Spain and Conte was adamant Messi, who he embraced at the final whistle, was the difference.

“This type of player, there is one born in every 50 years,” he said. “We are talking about one single player with this capacity, with this ability, with these skills. He's fantastic. For sure, we are talking about a player who is able to move the final result for the team for whom he is playing.”

Asked what he said to Messi, Conte added: “I think when you have the opportunity to make a great compliment to Messi, I think it's right. It's right to praise a super, super, super top player. A player who is able to score 60 goals in every season. Not only for one season. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity at the end of the game to give him my compliments because we are talking about an extraordinary player, the best in the world.”