Lionel Messi anticipates history for Barcelona, warns Arsenal

Lionel Messi has sent an ominous warning toArsenal that Barcelona are ready to make history and become the first team to retain the Champions League.

The Argentine star won his fifth Ballon d’Oron Monday night and paid tribute to his team-mates after winning the treble last season.

Barcelona take on Arsenal in the last-16, with the first leg next month, and Messi says the Catalan giants will be going all out to win the competition again.

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Lionel Messi poses with a Barca shirt, Argentina shirt and his five Ballon d'Or trophies

‘Yes, the objective is to become the first club to retain the Champions League,’ Messi said.

‘The objective at Barcelona is like always, to try and win everything.

‘The reality is we know that, every time, it's more difficult when you have just won it but I think the squad knows we have a great opportunity here, and we'll try it.

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Messi holds up his hand to show off how many Ballon d'Or awards he has won during his career so far

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adidas have presented Barcelona star Messi with a new platinum boot to celebrate his achievements

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A Spanish phrase on the right sole 'El mas grande de todos los tiempos' translates as 'the greatest of all time'

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Messi poses with his Ballon d'Or trophy after being announced as the winner at Monday's ceremony in Zurich

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Messi posted this photograph on Facebook captioned: '¡Bienvenido a casa! Welcome home! - LIO'

Messi also spoke about Neymar and Luis Suarez, who joined the club from Liverpool last summer.

Asked whether he ever dreamt ‘MSN’ could form such a lethal partnership, he added: ‘I hoped it would come out well and that we'd achieve great things because it's always possible that you don't.

‘But with Suarez, with Neymar, with Iniesta, with all the squad we have, we were conscious that we could achieve great things.’