Favre: Messi is almost unstoppable when he receives the ball

Borussia Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre knows that you can do little to stop Lionel Messi when he's on top form.

The Argentine scored once and assisted twice for Barcelona against Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"He played as a false nine. He moves very well between the lines and when he receives the ball, he's almost unstoppable," Favre said of Messi.

"You have to foul him because if not, he has incredible acceleration. His final ball is very dangerous."

Amidst reports of a rift between Favre and Jadon Sancho, the Englishman was left out of the starting line-up at the Camp Nou.

After coming on at half time, Sancho provided a potent attacking threat, scoring Dortmund's only goal of the night.

"Before the match I explained that it was a very tough game and we needed players that were focussed," Favre admitted.

"We took this decision [to bench Sancho] with this starting XI."