Friday, 20th November 2009

Ahead of Barcelona’s stretch of crucial matches coming up, Lionel Messi is full of confidence. With a key game coming in the Champions League against Inter Milan and La Liga’s El Clasico a few days later, the young maestro is not shying away from the responsibility. He told Sport, "Let’s go for it. We are aware of what is at stake and we know we cannot [afford to] fail.”

The Barcelona faithful will be delighted to have the Argentinean chomping at the bit as a critical point of the season looms. If current form is to be used as a gauge for expectations, then Messi, who’s been rampant again this year with 11 goals in 16 appearances so far, will do much to ease the anxiety of the supporters.

When asked about newly acquired team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the 22-year-old is full of praise, saying, "I feel very good playing next to him. The truth is, we understand each other perfectly on the pitch. He is a great person and we get along well off the pitch as well.” With the towering Swede recovering from injury over the international break, the two have an opportunity to showcase their flourishing understanding in some of the biggest games of their season so far.

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