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BARCELONA (Reuters) – Lionel Messi said Barcelona's 4-0 defeat by Liverpool, who had led them out of the Champions League, had spoiled their season, hoping to seal their double on Saturday against Valencia in the Copa final. del Rey.
At his first press conference for more than four years and his first media appearance since the reversal of this month's 4-3 semi-final, Messi, usually very discreet, does not want to be in a hurry. did not hesitate to criticize the Barca exhibition at Anfield.
"The first half was not so bad, but in the second half, we did not even participate in the competition." There was only one team on the team. field and it was the biggest mistake we could have made, "said Messi.
"The worst thing we can do, and what we can not forgive, is the fact that we did not participate in the competition, we let them go for a walk."
The Barca's all-time leading scorer became club captain for the first time this season, but despite the fact that the Catalans retain the title of La Liga with three games to go, Messi can not forget the bad memories of the defeat against Liverpool.
"I had a spectacular season as captain, we won the league, we reached the final of the cup, I think it was a good year if you play the Liverpool match, which unfortunately ruined the beautiful season He then said.
Messi's first act was to let his fans know that he was determined to win the Champions League for the first time since 2015, stating that he "would do everything to bring back this magnificent trophy desired to camp Nou ".
This now infamous phrase has been repeated frequently since the Barca failed to qualify for the Champions League final in Madrid due to the loss to Liverpool, victim of a 3-year victory. -0 against Juergen Klopp's club in the first leg at Nou Camp.
"I do not regret it, I did not promise to bring it back, I promised to do everything to try to bring it back, although we did not do it and we should say it." more to our fans because we did not do it. " t even in competition, "he said.
"Huge disappointments"
Messi compared his loss to 1-0 in overtime defeat to Germany that he had suffered as an Argentine captain in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil.
"These are two different things: A World Cup final is the most important thing and it's a huge disappointment, but having a 3-0 lead and losing the draw (in Liverpool) … both are a huge disappointment, "he said. .
He urged his team to forget the overwhelming defeat of Liverpool when Barca faced Valencia in the final of the Spanish Cup this weekend, weakened by injuries inflicted on his fellow attackers, Uruguayan Luis Suarez and the Frenchman Ousmane Dembele.
"It's a final, so we have to play for what it is and not think about anything else.Valence is a very difficult team, we know each other well, it's going to be very equal, if we do not go out with good attitude we could suffer, "he said.
"Nobody should beat us for the attitude. We will try to compete as we did at every game of the season, with the exception of Liverpool," added Messi.
(Report by Richard Martin, edited by Ken Ferris)
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