Barcelona star Lionel Messi believes Celtic's Aiden McGeady will be the player to watch when the sides meet in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

The Argentina international believes McGeady has the ability to become a success on the continent.

Such is the Republic of Ireland international's natural ability that Messi believes his Barca team-mates will need to give the winger special attention for the first leg in Scotland.

"Aiden McGeady is a fast and skilful winger and someone I rate highly," he told the Record Sport.

"We will have to be careful with him because his movement can be special and he has a great ability to appear in goalscoring positions out of the blue.

"I really like the way he plays football. He is a natural talent, who can create a brilliant piece of play in the blink of an eye and I can assure you our defenders will be paying very close attention to him.

"He'd be successful anywhere in Europe, but I know he likes playing for Celtic, so I'm not sure he'd leave."