Barcelona captain Lionel Messi admits their pre-season tour has had a negative effect on their start to the season.
Messi was speaking after their Champions League win over Inter Milan.
“When you travel you don’t train well,” he said.
“We returned and we left [again], you don’t work well and we didn’t have a training base, but we’re improving, we’re going to get going, but it’s not a criticism, it’s reality.
“It’s understandable that the club puts on these [pre-season] games, all the big clubs do it and it’s necessary, little by little we’re going to adapt to the competition.
Messi made just his second start of the season against Inter and he says that he’s getting back to match sharpness.
“[I’m] trying to start, they’re the first 90 minutes I’ve been able to complete, [I’m] happy to end well, tired and lacking in rhythm, but once the games go by, I will get going, I’m used to playing and managing my matches,” he added.
“We don’t train much because we’re playing two games a week and there isn’t time. I feel better when I’m playing and when I have a run of games.”
He also commented on his relationship with Antoine Griezmann.
“Obviously we don’t have any problems; there’s a good relationship between everyone in the dressing room, we are united,” Messi explained.
“We knew that the time wasn’t the best, that we needed this win to get back on track so that we can go forwards now.
“We’ve won two important matches and let’s hope it stays like this, it was tough to get started but we hope to continue rising.
“We’re on this path, we knew that we were having a difficult moment, but if we look at the rest of Europe, it’s tough for every team to start, for pre-season, we’re slow, I’m not finding excuses but it’s reality.”
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