Messi: I was never in crisis

Barcelona’s hat-trick hero Lionel Messi denied any hint of a personal crisis after breaking his scoring drought in emphatic style on Saturday.

The Argentine had gone three games without a goal but proved his critics wrong with a hat-trick within the first half-hour, before Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves completed the rout in a 5-0 annihilation of Mallorca at Camp Nou.

Messi is now on 199 goals for the Catalan giants, 36 goals behind Cesar Rodriguez – the side’s record goalscorer – but the forward is more focused on team accolades.

“The team played well again,” he told Spanish television. “We got quick goals and in the first half, the result was nearly confirmed. We have to continue this way.”

“It’s crazy to say that after three games [without a goal] I was in crisis. I do not care whether I score or not, what matters is that the team win and continue to do so.”

The 24-year-old was also questioned about his goal celebration after his third goal, where he held up three fingers, one-by-one.

However, Messi denied it had anything to do with going three games without scoring, saying that it was a personal tribute to a friend.

“I have a friend from home who told me to do that,” he explained. “The number 123 has a special meaning for him.”

Before the match, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hailed Messi’s influence on world football.

“I don’t think there has ever been a player in history that can do what he manages to do every three days. It’s unthinkable,” Guardiola told the club’s official website.

“People buy tickets just to see him play and he is doing something unique. To find a player that has managed to be so consistent for four years. Who is so fit, who fights so hard as him. I’ve never seen anything like it, such consistency. Perhaps I’m too young, but I never played with anybody like him and I have never coached a player like that either.”

“He is a better player than anybody else, he has a gift.”