Barcelona has attracted much criticism lately from football fans. However, last night made an excellent match and Messi thinks that the Blaugrana are back in top form.
With little nervous but with a three goal advantage on aggregate (4-1 in double-leg), Barcelona managed to eliminate Manchester City from the Champions League. The Catalan grouping won both confrontations (2-0 away and 2-1 at Camp Nou) and is now among the best eight teams in Europe.
It was a time that drew criticism on the Catalan’s game, who not showed the form that was used in Guardiola’s era. They lost the lead in La Liga and their game was not so spectacular as we expected. But Lionel Messi claimed after the match from yesterday that things are back to normal.
“We defeated a very difficult rival. After two very serious slip-ups [in the league] when we didn’t play well, today we saw the Barcelona that people expect to see,” Messi told Canal+.
“Despite their goal I don’t think the tie was ever in danger. Prior to my goal we were controlling the game and could have scored before. We knew we had to get a goal to calm ourselves down because of the potential they have.”
Barcelona won only 5 of their last 10 games in the Primera Division, but Messi says that the fight is not over, and they are still in the race for the title.
“We are the first to criticise ourselves. We know we did not do things like we should have, but that does not mean the league is lost because there is still a lot to play for.” added Barcelona star.