Quique Sanchez Flores says Lionel Messi is capable of "stopping time" after his Espanyol side were torn apart by the Barcelona star in the Catalan derby.
Messi scored the fourth goal in Barca's 4-1 win but it was his involvement in two of the goals which came before which truly lit up the Camp Nou on Sunday.
The Argentine slithered through four Espanyol players before seeing his shot saved by Roberto Jimenez, who had replaced the injured Diego Lopez, only for Luis Suarez to score his side's second goal from the rebound.
Minutes later, Messi beat another four players before teeing up Jordi Alba, who fired home his first goal in over two years.
Andres Iniesta also impressed as the Blaugrana moved within three points of Real Madrid at the top of the table, but it was Messi in particular who left Sanchez Flores purring.
"It's difficult to stop [Messi and Iniesta], we're talking about [some of] the best footballers playing together," the Espanyol coach said in his postgame news conference.
"They bring beauty to football, they create so much space. It was a normal game until Messi disrupted our defensive order. It had gone as expected.
"But Messi changes every game, he stops time. He's the only player who could score a hat trick in every game if he wanted to."
Sanchez Flores was one of the first to approach Messi after the game and he was asked what he'd said to the Barca forward.
He responded: "I congratulated Leo for his humility. He doesn't complain, throw himself to the ground or say anything. It's impressive and there are good feelings between us.
"I don't know how many of his shirts I have now. My son is a Barca fan and always asks me for Leo's shirt."
Suarez is regularly a benefactor of playing alongside Messi and he scored two of Barcelona's goals in the derby to take his tally to 12 league goals for the season.
However, he said after the match that it would have been better if Messi's outrageous second half dribble had ended with a goal.
"Rather than me get the second goal, I would have preferred Messi to finish off that great move," Suarez said. "It's a Playstation move, he's such a unique player."