The surprising statement of a Sevilla footballer to Lionel Messi

Both Sevilla and Barcelona were news yesterday, and they took the cover of all sports newspapers and portals. Is that, before an adverse series for Ronald Koeman's team, Barcelona had the difficult challenge of raising a 0-2 that deposited it in the final of the Copa del Rey, and to the surprise of many, it ended up achieving it in an agonizing way. However, the other note of the day, arose from the surprising and fun dialogue between two footballers who knew how to share a dressing room, and yesterday they saw their faces again playing against each other.

Ivan Rakitic lives a sweet second stage at Sevilla. With the this club, the Croatian has regained prominence as well as confidence, in addition to the pleasant performance that he has always shown. The role he enjoys with Julen Lopetegui on the Sevilla bench. A clear example was his figure during the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals against Barcelona, complying, of course, with the 'Law of the Ex', scoring the 2-0 goal. Result that, in the end, managed to overcome the Blaugrana´s team winning 3-0.

The Croatian, in an interview with 'LaLiga TV', confessed to feeling truly privileged for having shared a dressing room with players of the stature of Xavi, Iniesta or Messi during his time as a Barcelona player. "When I arrived at Barcelona, the hunger those players had was incredible. I was lucky enough to spend a year training with Xavi, and as many with Iniesta. I learned from them on and off the pitch", said Rakitic. "Those people were given nothing. They earned all their success. It is not a coincidence that they have won everything. Each player had a role to play. And each one did things in their own way, but always to win", conffesed the Croatian.

In turn, Rakitic wanted to reveal one of his anecdotes with Messi and what he told him once in reference to the titles that both have. "I was talking to Messi and I told him 'You have won everything, you have scored many goals. But I have won a trophy that you will never have, the Europa League," said the now Sevilla footballer with a laugh.

The reference to the coach who really marked his path, and promoted him as an athlete

On the other hand, in his interview with 'LaLiga TV', he also spoke about his relationship with Unai Emery, with whom he coincided in one of the best times in the history of Sevilla. "I had a wonderful relationship with him. I think that season (2013-14) we started with 15/16 new players. We were lucky to enter the Europa League despite finishing ninth. It was important to have a coach like him, who told us that the bigger or stronger team doesn't always have to win. We believed in that philosophy and thanks to the way you work, we became strong", he concluded.