Lionel Messi speaks following Copa championship: “Being the captain of this team is something special” | OneFootball

Icon: Barca Universal

Barca Universal

·17 April 2021

Lionel Messi speaks following Copa championship: “Being the captain of this team is something special”

Article image:Lionel Messi speaks following Copa championship: “Being the captain of this team is something special”

Lionel Messi dawned the captain’s armband, leading Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona out to the pitch in Sevilla to face a familiar foe in Athletic Bilbao for the Copa del Rey final. After a rather comfortable, but goalless first half, Barça hit the Basque outfit for four, cruising to a comfortable win and their first trophy in more than 700 days.

Messi addressed the media for the first time in over a year, talking about the game, and what it means to him and the group. He started off on an incredibly positive note, saying, “Being the captain of this team is something special.”


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Leo continued on the same beat, talking about the chance to lift the trophy after a long time, saying, “It is always nice to lift a trophy, it is a very happy day for the group, which deserve a lot of joy. It is very special to lift a trophy with the club of my life.”

Playing in an empty stadium, though, has the the Argentine feeling low, who said, “It’s disappointing that we can’t celebrate this title with the fans and our families.”

He also talked about how the game went for the Catalan giants, who were in control of proceedings throughout the 90 minutes: “We had the patience to play the ball from side to side, to look for the opportunities. In the first half it was difficult, but in the second half they slowed down a bit and we have taken advantage of it.”

A trophy seems to have listed Messi’s spirits a lot, who is optimistic about the league as well. He said, “It’s a different season with changes in dynamics, with young players. It was difficult for us to start at the beginning, but the team has been getting stronger over time and we are in the fight for La Liga. A lot of games remain and a lot of things will happen.”

Messi continued and said, “Recently we became stronger in La Liga and we managed to reduce the difference with Atlético, but the bad thing is the Clasico that we have lost.”

He revealed that the secret of their win was patience throughout the game, and taking advantage of the formation put forth by Bilbao, “They played the same way, 4-4-2, and we just had to be patient, and we knew the goals would come.”

Messi ended his presser on an energetic note, saying, “We are a strong team and we will fight to the end. We lost the Clásico, but there’s a lot of games, and we’re going to stay until the end of this fight.”

Source: BarçaTV+

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