Barca president: Messi could still win three Champions Leagues here
The Barcelona chief said that “there's still time left for Messi to win one, two or three Champions Leagues until he retires," as he spoke to local radio RAC1.
"I've always said that in the Champions League consistency isn't the most important thing. Real Madrid have had good Champions League games recently. We need to keep working on that aspect to get to the finals,” Bartomeu added.
The Argentine, who is 30, recently signed a deal that would keep him in Catalonia until 2021, and pay him €70m a year.
While Critiano Ronaldo has been superb in recent months as Real have made a concerted push towards a Champions League treble, the talk in Madrid before was that he was struggling, and that Florentino Perez was considering a long-term replacement for the 32-year-old.
Messi, for his part, seems to be going as strong as ever, scoring 43 goals in all comps for Barcelona this season and giving record hitman Mo Salah a run for his money.
Bartomeu also had a few things to say about Barcelona’s Champions League loss to Roma, a major surprise considering the Catalans went into the return leg of the quarter-final with a three-goal lead, only to lose 3-0.
"The return leg against Roma was sad. We had the ambition of getting to the semi-finals and final," he said.
"We didn't do anything badly, Roma were just superior to us that night. They walked all over us. But the good thing is that after we recovered."