Lionel Messi, a man of few words and one not known to mince them when he finally speaks, has said that Barca will not win the Champions League of they were to continue playing as they were prior to the enforced pandemic break.
Ahead of Barca’s 1-1 draw at Napoli in the last 16 in February, the world’s arguably most famous Argentine had made a similar statement, prompting coach Quique Setien to respond in the pre-match press conference and say that he thought the Catalans could win it.
“Perhaps this break will benefit us,” Messi told Sport. “Let’s see if the competitions can start again and we can leave the doubts behind. Then we will see the level we are at.
“It seems to me that coach didn’t understand what I said or that it was explained poorly to him. I said that playing as we had been the last few games before the break, it appeared to be clear that it wouldn’t be enough to win the Champions League.
“Nobody doubts the squad that we have and I don’t doubt that we can win all that is left, but not playing the way we were playing.”
And he added: “Everyone has their opinion and they are all respectable. Mine is based on the fortune of having played in the Champions League every year and I know it’s not possible to win it playing as we were.”
This is coming straight from the horse’s mouth, mind you.