Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona preview - Best is yet to come - Messi

Posted Sunday, November 06, 2011 by PA

Lionel Messi has warned Barcelona's opponents there is more to come from him after an exceptional start to the season.

Messi bagged his second hat-trick in as many games as he single-handedly demolished Viktoria Plzen in midweek after scoring three against Real Mallorca at the weekend, with the latest goal glut taking him past 200 in his Barca career.

Messi has 22 goals in 17 games this season, and believes he is in the right condition to score many more as they prepare to take on an Athletic Bilbao side unbeaten in nine games.

"I feel great physically, strong enough to play as many games as possible, like last year," said Messi.

Having moved past 200 to become Barca's second-highest goalscorer of all time aged just 24, the question is when, not if, he surpasses Cesar's record of 235 for the outright crown.

The Argentinian, however, says he is in no rush.

"I'm not aiming to break the record this year," he said. "I hope to do it someday seeing that I want to stay here for the rest of my career."

Barcelona begin the weekend one point behind their great rivals Real Madrid, who face Osasuna earlier in the day.

It is their away form that has let Barca down so far with two draws and two wins from four matches, and Messi is aware that Bilbao will be another tough nut to crack.

"The most important thing is to win the three points this weekend because it's a very difficult stadium to win at," he said.

"They are a great team, they study their rivals in depth, and they aren't afraid to take the game to you."

Youngster Isaac Cuenca has been training with the Barca first team squad ahead of the match in the continued absence of the injured Pedro Rodriguez.

Athletic secured their progression to the knock-out stages of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Salzburg in midweek, boosted by the return of Javi Martinez from a muscular injury.

He admitted he now faced a fight to be fit to face Barcelona with only a few days rest after a long spell out, but believes whichever Bilbao side takes the field, they can give Barca a game.

"I will see if I can recover," he said. "But it is no accident we are unbeaten in nine games. We want to continue the streak. Can we beat Barcelona? Of course. It's a football match."