Barcelona are full of top quality players, admits Lahm

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has joined the bandwagon in praise of Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, but has warned that the Catalan club is full of top quality players.

The newly crowned Bundesliga champions are going to face the La Liga league leaders in the semifinal of the Champions League this week, and the Bavarian giants remain the only club in Europe still chasing a treble. Meanwhile, Barcelona are still sweating over the fitness of Messi, who sat out on Saturday’s 1-0 win over Levante. Lahm said:

“Messi is the best player in the world, with him Barcelona play better and we saw that when he came on against PSG, you could see his involvement.

“When he’s on, the standard goes up, but Barcelona aren’t just about Messi. I don’t really care who we face, they are all top players. We have to prove ourselves and show what we can do, we want to win here and go on the attack. We have the right types of players who can take on Barcelona and hurt them.”

Bayern were humbled last season in their own backyard in the finals of the Champions League by Chelsea, as the Blues won 4-3 on penalties in a match that had ended 1-1 after extra time. But Bayern have bounced back this season, and Lahm believes that defeat has actually made the team better. Speaking ahead of the first leg that takes places in Germany on Tuesday, Lahm added:

“It was a huge disappointment to lose the final at home, but we see we have learnt from that and come back much better, especially in this season’s Champions League.

“We have just developed further and strengthened our squad over the summer. Everyone in the squad can come in and give a performance. I think that is what has helped us.”