Lionel Messi gives verdict on new-look Barcelona team

Barcelona legend Lionel Messi has spoken of his pride at seeing the club's youngsters thrive under new manager Hansi Flick so far this season.

Barca currently top the La Liga table and have won three of their four Champions League matches since Flick replaced former boss Xavi Hernandez in the manager's dugout.

Lamine Yamal has enjoyed a breakout year on the wing, while Pau Cubarsi has come through at centre-back and Marc Casado has enjoyed regular game time in midfield.

He told TV3: "They look spectacular and it doesn't surprise me because it's not something that's new, it's happened all my life, or at least, since I arrived at Barcelona when I was 13.

"For me it's spectacular that the boys have had the opportunity for a couple of years. When they are given the opportunity and the confidence they respond in this way because they know the club better than anyone else and because they are used to playing this way since they were little and when they are accompanied, these things happen, as they also happened in another era."

Those words were high praise for Flick, who responded in a press conference on Friday. The German said: "It's an honour that he says nice things about the club, and that he follows them, and sees the young players, and so you see that he has his whole heart in this club. It means a lot for us and for the whole team."

Messi is set to return to Catalonia to celebrate Barca's 125th anniversary at the Liceu Theatre later this month and the Inter Miami star added he sees himself moving back to his former home in the near future.

He revealed: "My kids are Catalan, I spent my whole life living there, the truth is that I feel like I'm from Barcelona, and at any point I could go and live there. Because my kids, my wife and I miss our life in Barcelona a lot, as we have friends there, we left a lot behind there."

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