"If I am not in contact with the ball, I'm out of the game"

It seems that sometimes he walks about on the pitch pretty absentmindedly. But he always has a plan. The Barcelona captain, questioned about how he had adapted over so many years, was clear on his analysis.

"I still think that I am not a typical goal-scorer. I like to come from the back, to be in contact with the ball. I also like to score goals, but I do not live for this. If I am not in contact with the ball, I'm out of the game", he confirmed.

"Now I think more about the game and wait for the good moments to make it count. I was growing on that too, knowing what moment and when to participate. I don't like to be replaced, I prefer to come on from the bench and play less than being substituted, because many games are defined by the end moments. I'd rather go in and play than go out and miss the best bit," the striker surprisingly commented.

Although he moved to Barcelona early on, Leo Messi has always declared himself as a Newell's fan. He could not live that feeling of living a 'Clasico Rosarino' against Rosario Central, but the number '10' acknowledged knowing what players should feel in a date style.

"It must be terrible," he highlighted, as the Barcelona striker also revealed that he would have loved to play a game like this, but also knows the 'risks' involved.

"I would have loved to play Argentine football in general. I went to the games with my Father, seeing this was impressive. The River-Boca or the Newell's-Central games are more or less like the Barca-Madrid ones, but in Argentina, the people are crazier. In Spain, if you lose, it doesn't matter. In Argentina, not winning the 'Clasico' means you cannot leave your house. It's crazy," the Argentine international recalled.

And he recalled some of the anecdotes he has had with fans of the Argentine national team: "We lived it in South America - with the national team. They don't let you sleep, they throw everything at you in the hotels. For the Libertadores it must be even worse...".

In spite of this, Messi stressed that the character that the fan carries with him can play a bad trick: "The madness of the day to day Argentinean takes him also to football and it ends up being a disaster," he added, before closing the eternal debate about his colours.

"They said it was bad that River did not celebrate the goal in the Club World Cup too much and Independiente for having a photo with the shirt, but I was and still am from Newell's," said the number '10'.

Beyond his great relationship with Barcelona in Europe, Leo again expressed that he has that special feeling for the Rosario club that he gave him so much to when he was still a child.