Messi: "I am very grateful to the club"

In an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi talke about the season so far.





Do you feel as though you won the long awaited face-off with "Kun" Agüero the other day?
No, no... There was no such face-off. At the least I did not see it that way. That's something the Television and Media said... I like "Kun" a lot, he is my friend and I'm happy, because he is having one heck of a performance with Atlético. His performance has been outstanding. Besides I don't like comparisons. Each player has his own attributes.

Does this Barcelona excite you?
A lot, just like the fans. I don't think about individual achievements but rather that we can continue growing and winning as a whole. I am very grateful to the club for everything they have given me, we have a great team and we need to win titles, which is the goal of the entire squad. We are not complacent, we want to improve.

Does it bother you that there is talk of "messidependencia", messidependence?
I don't think that exists, in Barcelona we are all equals. I am young and I must continue learning things and working in order to give my best to the team. If the team is doing well, then I am happy. Everything turned out perfect against Atlético Madrid. We need to continue down that path. When one has the Barcelona jersey, one has to come out determined to win the match from the first minute.

You were almost able to score another one of those maradona like goals that day, right?
And the ball went so close to the goalies right post, huh? So close... I didn't plan it, the play just developed that way.

The truth is, this season you've come out the blocks guns blazing...
Yeah, I have eights goals, and lately I've been fortunate with the last touch. But what's important is not who scored the goals, what's important is that the team continues accumulating points, in Liga and Champions League.

After almost four years of your official first division debut, how do you feel when you look back?
That I've experienced some really beautiful and unforgettable things, that I have played some important championships and that there is still much ahead of me. The afternoon of my official debut against Espanyol at the Montjuic, October 16 2004, I wasn't nervous at all because I didn't expect to debut. That's why it caught me by surprise that the mister call me and tell me to jump onto the pitch. So I went on to the playing field very calm.

So is the challenge now, to be chosen as the best player in the world?
No, the truth is I'm not going crazy over that. As always I am calm. If it happens it happens and of course that would be wonderful, but I would rather win things with squad of my team and with my national team. That is more important!

Translated by: MARIO