Talk of Messi's decline laughable: Zambrotta
Gianluca Zambrotta, a former Blaugrana defender, has laughed at suggestions that Lionel Messi is declining, Goal.com reports.
Messi was unable to find a solution during Barca's 0-0 draw against Juventus in the Champions League quarterfinal last Wednesday, a tie that saw Barcelona crash out of the competition.
Barcelona lost the first leg in Turin 3-0 against a brilliant and tactically capable Juventus side.
"It makes me laugh when somebody says Messi is declining," Zambrotta told Omnisport.
"I don't know the accurate statistics but at this time in the season, if I am not mistaken, Messi and Ronaldo must have scored the same amount of goals roughly. They are on the same figures.
"Messi in the Champions League has scored so many this season, the same in La Liga. You can't say he is in Sunset Boulevard. Maybe he is more mature and understands that sometimes he has to pull the brakes, as we say."
However, Zambrotta suggested that the number of games that Messi plays every season for club and country may be having an impact.
He also reminisced about his time at Barcelona and said "When I was Messi's team-mate I knew he could be decisive at every moment. In a nutshell, when you were in trouble you gave him the ball thinking... he'll do something with it.
“In training instead you had to try and take the ball off him and sometimes I managed to do that when I was at the peak of my physical condition. You need to be at your best to do it but most of the time it was very hard to dispossess him of the ball.
"Messi now is not static. Maybe he wants to receive less knocks and tries to draw the others' attention towards himself to let his team-mates have more space. But mostly because he plays too many games.
"Messi is that type of player, playing in between 60 and 70 games per year. It is impossible to be always at the top. Him, Cristiano Ronaldo, they always play with their national team and their clubs, always going until the end of every competition.”
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