Kane wants to score more than Messi

XHarry Kane has set his sights on bettering the incredible goal-scoring feats of Lionel Messi as the Tottenham Hotspur striker prepares for his shoot-out with the Barcelona legend.

Kane and Messi will be the leading men at Wembley tomorrow morning (Singapore time) when Spurs host Barcelona in a crucial Champions League Group B clash.

Messi has already scored eight times this season, including a hat-trick in Barca's European demolition of PSV Eindhoven, taking his career tally for the club to well over 500 goals.

                 GROUP B

TOTTENHAM

BARCELONA

Kane has been prolific for Tottenham over the last four years, but he admits he needs to become even more ruthless with his finishing to approach the jaw-dropping statistics compiled by the Argentina attacker.

"He set the standard, he and Cristiano Ronaldo have gone above the normal standard, when they are scoring 50 or 60 goals a season," AFP quoted Kane as saying.

"As a striker I want to try and match that. He's definitely set the standard for the rest of us and he still is.

"It motivates me to get even better and improve and hopefully one day score as many, if not more, than he has.

"It's a great test for us.

"As players you want to play against the best in the world and Messi is certainly that, a fantastic player, and we will do our best to stop him."

Spurs lost their opening European game at Inter Milan, leaving the English Premier League side with no margin for error as they try to qualify for the knockout stages.

However, Tottenham will be without five key players for at least two weeks due to injury. Dele Alli (hamstring), Serge Aurier (thigh), Mousa Dembele (thigh), Christian Eriksen (abdomen) and Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) will all be out until after this month's international break.

That hasn't dampened manager Mauricio Pochettino, though. "It is a period when we are not in good luck with injuries... We are not victims, though. We must feel strong," Reuters quoted him as saying.

"Every player must feel they can win and achieve what we want. It's about enjoying the game tomorrow and the best player in the world in Messi.

"Football is not a drama but always it's about being focused, competitive and enjoying playing against the best player in the world."

His players seem to be confident ahead of the clash, recalling last season's group-stage win over eventual Champions Real Madrid.

Said Kane: "Barcelona might play better than Real Madrid did last season. We need to produce that same energy, the crowd were amazing that night.

"If we can get them on their feet as soon as possible, create some chances and take one or two, it would put us in a great position."

His teammate Danny Rose added that last season's group-stage win and draw against Real "prove we can do it" against Barca.

Fellow defender Toby Alderweireld added: "We will have to be at the top of our game to get a win, but at home, we've shown already that we have the team to beat anyone."

If news reports in Spain are to be believed, that job could be made easier by an alleged tiff between Messi and defender Gerard Pique.

TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones says there has been a "complete breakdown" of their relationship.

It claimed that Pique slammed Messi for only fronting the media when Barca win. The Argentinian allegedly responded by taking a dig at Pique and his defensive colleagues, saying they have been conceding too many goals.

The Spanish champions are in a rough patch, having failed to win their three games since the Champions League opener against PSV.

However, Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau insists the club have full faith in coach Ernesto Valverde, saying: "We have complete confidence in Valverde, the season is very long. We're confident that our objectives will be achieved."