Many in England and beyond this past fortnight have hailed Wayne Rooney the best player in the world.

But the man whose title he lays claim to is threatening to go goal for goal with the English striker in a mouth-watering shootout that could continue, if tomorrow's draw is favourable, all the way to the Champions League final in Madrid in May.

Lionel Messi's double in the 4-0 win over Stuttgart on Wednesday night earned Barcelona a 5-1 aggregate win and a place alongside Rooney's Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Argentinian forward and 2009 FIFA Player of the Year has now scored 31 goals in all competitions, just one fewer that Rooney.

His goals against the German team, both from distance, followed a hat-trick in the win over Valencia at the weekend that kept the Catalans level-pegging at the top of the Spanish league with Real Madrid.

Before teammate Pedro Rodriguez netted in the 22nd minute at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, Messi had scored the side's previous seven goals.

Only Rooney can rival him for such rich, dominant goalscoring form of late.

Fellow Barcelona forward Thierry Henry on Thursday described Messi's recent form as "ridiculous", while one Spanish scribe likened him to a jazz musician, "always recognisable but different every night ... he improvises with the same old score, the band follows him and he plays with a religious faith, and the fans demand that the music never stops".

Barca coach Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, drew comparisons between Messi's match-winning influence and that of Michael Jordan.

"Last year we won six titles. He was very decisive in those," Guardiola said, a reference, in part, to Messi's goal in Barcelona's Champions League final win over Manchester United and his extra-time winner to secure the Club World Cup over Argentina's Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi in December.

"Every great has a tendency to influence his team, like Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls. He's the best. We wouldn't trade him for anybody."

Stuttgart coach Christian Gross perhaps paid Messi the highest accolade when he said it was "fair to compare him to Diego Maradona".

A repeat of a Barcelona-Manchester United Champions League final would throw up many plot lines to savour: Fergie's men out for revenge after being annihilated in Rome last year; Messi going head to head with Rooney; and Barca seeking to be retain its European crown at the Bernabeu home of their arch foe Real Madrid.

But even if the match-up doesn't eventuate, Rooney and Messi could yet face off in South Africa in July. England versus Argentina for the World Cup. The Roo versus the Flea. Now what a showdown that would be.