Barcelona star Lionel Messi says that Barcelona had to change their style of play when Neymar leftfor Paris Saint Germain last summer, but the Argentine says Barca are now defensively more secure.
Neymar departed the Nou Camp in a £198m transfer in August, shocking the club. However, theynow lead La Liga by 9 points and Messi thinks Neymar’s departure tightened them defensively.
“The departure of Neymar made us change our way of playing. We lost a great offensive potential,but that also helped us in the defensive aspect. We are currently more secure in the middle of thefield, we have more organization and it makes us stronger defensively," he said.
Messi also pointed to the form of French defender Samuel Umtiti, “Umtiti trains how he plays andhe never holds back, in matches or in training, he is a great person and a great man out of the fieldand I see many qualities in him.”