Messi: I want to play with Rooney and Bale

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi admits he would like to play with both Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale, two players he believes are currently at the top of their game.

With the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez plying their trade in Barcelona, Messi has no shortage of world class team-mates, and the Blaugrana have expectedly blazed a trail in the La Liga this season. 
Barcelona have already amassed an amazing 68 points from 26 league games played so far, and with a commanding 11 point lead at the top of the table, the Catalan giants are firmly on track to regain the La Liga title from arch-rivals Real Madrid this season.
Despite the Blaugrana's dominance, Messi has hinted at his desire to see the club reinforced with more world class players - in particular, the 25-year-old pinpointed both Tottenham Hotspur winger Bale and Manchester United striker Rooney as players he would love to have a chance of linking up with.
"Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale are both great players, they are doing so well for their clubs," Messi was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"And I always want to play with the best players. But I have to be careful with what I say because I can't see them leaving their teams soon. 
"But of course I want to play with the best players."
One of the reasons for Messi's wish to play alongside Bale and Rooney may stem from the fact that the Blaugrana's recent run of results have been far from satisfactory.
Messi and his team-mates were recently knocked out of the Copa del Rey by arch-rivals Real Madrid and lost 2-1 to the same opponents, who put out a second string side, in the league. In addition, the Blaugrana's hopes of winning the Champions League are hanging on a thread after they lost 2-0 to AC Milan at the San Siro in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
However, Messi is confident that his side can pick itself up from their recent disappointments and overturn the two goal deficit when they host the Rossoneri at the Nou Camp for the second leg.
"We're all aware of the problems at the moment," Messi admitted.
"We've had some big defeats and we all have to do a bit more to change and improve the situation. 
"We have a very important match next week and we have to focus on that.
"I hope we overturn the 2-0 loss. Why can't we score three when they scored two in Italy? 
"That's what everyone expects from us and this is what we are going to try to do. 
"Milan will be difficult but we can do it. We all have to do more. We have to show we can play better, like we did before."
Despite his undoubted brilliance, Messi has never scored against an Italian team from open play, and the diminutive forward is looking forward to putting an end to that unwanted record against the Rossoneri.
"Italian teams have good players," Messi added. 
"These records exist to be broken and I hope I break it next week. Italians team famous for having strong defenders. It's a problem for everyone.
"I focus on the ability of myself and Barca to overcome this problem. We need to overcome it and next week's match is the best way of doing it."
Messi also dismissed suggestions that the illness of manager Tito Vilanova, who is currently undergoing treatment in New York, is the reason for Barcelona's recent decline in fortunes.
"Vilanova has affected us a lot of course," Messi reflected. 
"It's affected the dressing room but we can't use this as an excuse for our results. We just have to hope they are back soon."
The subject of whether Messi or Real's Cristiano Ronaldo is the better player is also a prickly one for Argentinian international, who claims that both he and his Portuguese rival are only focused on playing their own game and do not bother about each other's achievements.
"I've been asked a lot of times about Ronaldo," Messi revealed.
"We don't make comparisons though. We don't exist as players just to see which of us is better. 
"We want to win trophies. I'll leave the comparisons to you."
Barcelona will take on relegation threatened Deportivo La Coruna in their next La Liga fixture on Saturday before hosting AC Milan at the Camp Nou for the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie with AC Milan on Tuesday.