Barcelona depends on him a lot: Julio Baptista hails 'true professional' Messi

Messi and Barcelona had a fallout after the striker had expressed his desire to leave the club. However, in the end, the Argentine stayed with the club as he did not want to settle matters in court

Published: 11th February 2021 06:11 PM  |   Last Updated: 11th February 2021 06:11 PM   |  A+A A-

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi (Photo | AP)

By ANI

NEW DELHI: Former Real Madrid player Julio Baptista said that Barcelona's Lionel Messi is a "true professional" and the club gets a lot of help from his performance.

Last year, Messi and Barcelona had a fallout after the striker had expressed his desire to leave the club. However, in the end, the Argentine stayed with the club as he did not want to settle matters in court.

But since then, there has been a lot of speculations regarding his future and he has been linked to various clubs, including Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Manchester City.

"People talk about him a lot but he is a true professional and always has been. At the end of the day, Barcelona depends on him a lot. Each day, when Messi plays, Barcelona manage to get great help from him. He is highly disciplined," La Liga Ambassador Baptista said during a virtual press conference when asked if these transfer speculations make it difficult for the player to concentrate on the game.

Atletico Madrid have performed brilliantly in the 2020-2021 season of La Liga. The club currently holds the top spot on the La Liga table with 51 points from 20 games while the second-placed club Real Madrid have 46 points from 22 games. Barcelona sit on third position with 43 points from 21 games.

Baptista admitted that Atletico Madrid certainly have the advantage at the moment as they are ahead, with two matches in hand. However, he feels Atletico Madrid will have to maintain the same standard of performance throughout the season and avoid making mistakes to win the title this season.

"It is a very complicated thing to talk now about who is going to be the champion because there are still a lot of matches to be played. Atletico Madrid certainly have the advantage compared to the other teams but what is important when you are ahead is to avoid mistakes. If Atletico continue to play properly and no mistakes are made, then I think they have a chance of winning this year," he said.

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