Lennon: Barcelona have raised the bar

19-Jan-2013 5:10:00 AM

The 41-year-old believes the Catalan giants have set a new benchmark and says they are the best team he has ever witnessed, along with the current Spain national side

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has lavished praise on Barcelona and believes they have set the "template" in world football.

Under new boss Tito Vilanova, the Blaugrana have been in record-breaking form this season and have dropped just two points so far in Spain's Primera Division.

They did, however, lose to Lennon's Celtic in the Champions League back in November, but regardless of that result the 41-year-old says Barca are arguably the greatest side of all-time.

“I think Barcelona set the template. It's a dangerous template because I think a lot of managers strive to play like that,” Lennon told reporters.

“I think you have to understand the culture that you're playing in.

“I think what we're seeing now in terms of the current Barcelona team and the current Spanish team, are probably the best footballing teams I've seen, ever, with Messi arguably the greatest player ever.

“So, that's what we all strive to be now. We can't all be that way, we have to cultivate our own styles.”

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