Gabriel Batistuta: 'Argentina have not adapted to Lionel Messi'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 13 December 2017

Batistuta: 'Argentina must adapt to Messi'

Former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta believes that Barcelona have adapted to Lionel Messi better than his country, and so have yielded more reward.

Former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta said that he believes Lionel Messi has enjoyed more success with Barcelona than his national team due to his club adapting to his style of football.

Messi has established himself as one of the greatest footballers in history during his time at Camp Nou, helping Barcelona to four Champions League titles, eight La Liga crowns and five Copas del Rey in addition to a plethora of individual honours.

The only honour Messi has won for Argentina came at the 2008 Olympics, though, and Batistuta believes that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is better set up to succeed at club level.

When asked why Messi is better in La Liga, Batistuta told Marca: "Basically because Barcelona have adapted to his way of playing.

"Players like Ronaldinho, Xavi, Neymar and others have come and gone but nothing has changed. The same with the coaches as they all look for the best team to play around him.

"At the same time it is not as easy to play Brazil or Germany as it is to face Eibar. Everything is more complicated with the national team."

Despite Messi's relative lack of success for his country, the 30-year-old is still Argentina's leading goalscorer of all time and has appeared in the finals of the World Cup and Copa America at international level.