Former Barcelona midfielder and current Camp Nou boss admitted his captain had a spell of bad luck at the weekend as the Blaugrana side suffered an unexpected 1-0 loss to Getafe in La Liga.<\/p>\n
The new Barca coach Ronald Koeman\u00a0has said Lionel Messi’s\u00a0performances \u201ccould be better\u201d following the side\u2019s defeat by Getafe at the weekend, two weeks after they\u00a0<\/em>drew 1-1 at home against Sevilla before the international break.<\/p>\n This has placed the Blaugrana in ninth place in the Spanish top flight with seven points, though they have two games in hand over league leaders Real Sociedad, who have 11 points and Koeman has been candid in admitting that his captain and talisman has not been at his customary best in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe, at the moment, Messi\u2019s performances could be better,\u201d said the Dutchman.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he is happy, he is working hard and he wants to be the captain.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a single complaint. He has also had some bad luck; he hit the post [against Getafe] and on another day that goes in.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have any doubts about his performances and we\u2019re going to see him [at his best] in the upcoming games, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Messi\u2019s contract at the Nou Camp expires next summer, after having showed his total disenchantment and displeasure with the Barca board and tried to force an exit in August \u2013 only to back down due to his desire to avoid taking his club to court.<\/p>\n Fellow forward and best mate Luis Suarez did leave not long after, joining La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid last month after being deemed surplus to requirements supposedly by Koeman.<\/p>\n The Barca talisman immediately ramped up the guns in his public denunciation of the board\u2019s and, tacitly, Koeman\u2019s treatment of bosom buddy and strike partner exit with the Argentina captain\u2019s relationship with Koeman seeming frosty at best.<\/p>\n Barca next take on Ferencvaros in their Champions League group-stage opener on Tuesday evening in what the Spanish media have billed as the \u2018Barca Revenge\u2019.<\/p>\n