Messi delighted to be back to his best with brace

Football superstar Lionel Messi announced his comeback loud and clear as the Argentine celebrated his first start since suffering a knee problem two months ago with two goals in FC Barcelona's 6-1 rout of AS Roma in the Champions League.

Messi had played the last half hour of Barcelona's 4-0 humiliation of Real Madrid in La Liga on Saturday, but this time he was on the pitch from the start, linking with fellow strikers Neymar and Luis Suarez and scoring with impunity on Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

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," he said on Tuesday.

"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 Barcelona had performed well during his absence.

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

Barcelona have hit a purple patch of form 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.