Barca should not sacrifice style, Messi says

Madrid: Argentine star and world player of the year Lionel Messi on Wednesday urged Barcelona not to change their style despite their chastening Champions League semi-final loss to Bayern Munich.

Bayern hammered seven goals past the Catalan club for no reply but Messi insists that loss is no reason to change the club’s attacking philosophy.

“It gets ever more difficult and you cannot win everything every year,” Messi told Mexican broadcaster Azteca.

“We have been playing the same way for a long time and all the coaches’ years, all the teams are looking at you and studying how we are not winning, at least in Europe”, observed Messi.

“But we cannot go crazy over what happened this year. We cannot change Barcelona’s style, which is what has always characterised this team. You have to keep calm and look to the year ahead,” said Messi, whose side have after all wrested the Spanish league title back from Real Madrid.

Messi said the forced absences of coach Tito Vilanova, who replaced the hugely successful ‘Pep’ Guardiola but had to have several bouts of cancer treatment in the United States, had made a difference.

“When he was away we noticed the difference. It was not that the people around him were not up to scratch just that the image of the head coach was missing... obviously things weren’t the same.”

Yet with the Spanish league crown back at the Nou Camp, Messi concluded: “A season is very long and to be able to end it celebrating is wonderful.”

Meanwhile, Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella says he is reviewing his options in case Messi does not recover from injury in time to face Colombia in a World Cup qualifier on June 7.

“It will be a good opportunity,” to assess other options, Sabella told reporters. “Hopefully, we can count on Lionel, and if that is so then that’s great. Otherwise, it is a chance to see how the team shapes up without him, even though we hope he will make it,” said the former Sheffield United and Leeds player.

Messi is set to be sidelined for three weeks with a right thigh muscle injury, the Catalan club revealed on Tuesday.

Argentina observers are keen to see to what degree the side can avoid succumbing to ‘Messidependencia’ as they look to host the Colombians and then travel to Ecuador four days later.

Argentina, seeking to land a third World Cup crown at next year’s finals in Brazil, top the South American standings — with their neighbours pre-qualified as hosts — on 24 points, four clear of Ecuador and five ahead of Colombia.