Marc-Andre ter Stegen has suggested that Barcelona are a stronger outfit this season despite the departure of Neymar.
The Brazilian left Spain for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record £200m move last summer, and the general consensus was that Barca would be weaker as a result.
However, the Blaugrana remain on course for a treble of La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and goalkeeper Ter Stegen believes that his side have improved due to the setback of Neymar's exit.
"The quality of Ney, you can't explain it," Ter Stegen told ESPN. "Because he was super important for us, as a person [and] in the team, as a footballer. Now, everyone needs to understand what he did because maybe he wants to win something else, also personally.
"His decision only he knows but in the end we had to compensate all this and this is not easy because he had so much quality, but we did it in a different way and now we have a very, very strong team.
"I think we've got some new players who have made us even stronger and hopefully they feel good and comfortable in the team and they adapt very fast."
Barca return to action on Tuesday night as they face Chelsea away in their Champions League last-16 first leg.
Giuseppe Labellarte
