Messi: Real players best in the world

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi said no other team in the world can win games when they are playing poorly like Real Madrid can.

Madrid qualified for a third consecutive Champions League final earlier this month after coming through knockout ties against Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich.

Barca, meanwhile, turned in one bad performance against Roma, losing 3-0 away, and exited the competition on away goals in the last eight.

“Position by position, Madrid have the best players in the world,” Messi told TyC Sports. “[Barca] do as well, but Madrid have something that only they have. When they play badly, they still get results. We have to be the far superior side to win.

“The Champions League [loss was a mistake]. Given the [4-1] advantage we had before the second leg, we [should have reached] the semifinal. It was a huge disappointment.

“[But] it motivates me to see Madrid in the Champions League final again; to see them winning leagues. I want to win the Champions League every year. I want to be a league champion every year — it’s what we all want.”

Messi and Barcelona completed a domestic double this season, their third in four years, but they have been knocked out of Europe at the quarterfinal stage in each of the last three campaigns.

Despite that, he remains happy at the Camp Nou after signing a new long-term deal last year and said he can’t imagine himself ever leaving.

He has often been linked with a move to Manchester City, where he could link up with former coach Pep Guardiola and Sergio Aguero, but asked about the prospect of teaming up with his international teammate, he said: “Me at City? No. … If we play together, it will be because he signs for Barcelona.