Lionel Messi admits Barcelona won't win the Champions League playing as they did before the break

Barcelona drew away to Napoli in their final Champions League match before football came to a halt.
REUTERS
Ben Hayward15 May 2020

Lionel Messi has said that Barcelona will not win the Champions League by playing as they were prior to the enforced coronavirus break.

Ahead of Barca's 1-1 draw at Napoli in the last 16 in February, the Argentine made a similar statement, causing 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."

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