Messi: “Real Madrid was not the best team in this Champions League and yet they beat everyone”

In an interview with TyC sports, PSG and Argentina star Lionel Messi spoke about his thoughts on Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League title, the mentality needed in a champion, and also what it was like losing to Carlo Ancelotti’s men in the round-of-16.

“The best team does not always win,” Messi said. “Real Madrid, without detracting from them, much less because they’re the champion of the Champions League and are always there, were not the best team in this Champions League, and yet, beat everyone.”

Messi also spoke at length about the importance of Real Madrid’s psychological edge and what it was like losing at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“The Real Madrid thing killed us,” Messi said of that loss. “To me, to the entire dressing room in general, to all of Paris, because we had a barbaric illusion in that competition, and because of how that game went, the result was a blow

“I know what Real Madrid is, I’ve lived it for many years, all my life, up close. And I knew that could happen, because out of nowhere they score a goal and it automatically changes the match.... If a strange move happens or a goal happens, it changes again and I already knew that it could happen and it happened to us and to all of the teams that they played — and it is not the first time that it happens.

“I wanted to win it again and it annoyed me not being able to. It also makes me see that the best team does not always win the Champions League, that the Champions League is about situations. There are specific moments, psychological moments that grab a team, where the slightest mistake leaves you out and the one who is most prepared for those situations ends up winning it or reaching the final”