Messi is delighted to back to his best after Roma brace

Leo Messi is back: that is the news that was announced loud and clear as the Argentinean celebrated his first start since suffering a knee injury two months ago with two goals in Barca's 6-1 rout of Roma in the Champions League.

   Messi had played the last half hour of Barca's 4-0 humiliation of Real Madrid at the weekend, but this time he was on the pitch from the start, linking with Neymar and Luis Suarez and scoring with impunity.

   It was as if he had never been away, although speaking to the press after the game, Messi admitted it was a moment he had been looking forward to.

   "The injury was taking a long time to recover from and I was looking forward to feeling this way again and getting back into action.

   "I am feeling good and coming back bit by bit, now it is a question of playing minutes of football and regaining confidence," said Messi, who nevertheless admitted Barca had performed well during his absence.

   "I was also able to enjoy watching them from the stands," he admitted.

   Barca have hit the floor running after the international break and are playing their best football of the season, as made clear by the results against Roma and Real Madrid.

   "We are doing things very well, but there is a long way to go. Now we have very important games ahead of us, such as the World Club Championship (in December), I hope we can keep it up," said the striker, whose words were reflected by coach Luis Enrique.

   "In a sport like this, there are always things you can improve, we are in a good moment and we have to hold on to that... but the best is still to come," he warned.  Endi