Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 8y

Lionel Messi has recovered after defeats - Argentina's Gerardo Martino

Argentina boss Gerardo Martino says Lionel Messi's performances can be affected by defeats but said the Barcelona star always bounces back quickly.

Barca had looked on course for a repeat of last season's Treble before a surprise dip in form in April saw them allow their rivals back into the title race as well as exiting the Champions League to Atletico Madrid.

Luis Enrique's side have since steadied the ship, winning their last four games by a combined scoreline of 21-0, with Messi scoring three goals and providing six assists, and they maintain a one-point over second-placed Real Madrid going into this weekend's final round of games.

At international level, Messi has suffered disappointment in his last two international tournaments, with Argentina beaten in the finals of both the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America.

Under Martino they then picked up just one point from their first three 2018 World Cup qualifiers but have more recently started winning games, including the victories over Chile and Bolivia in March, and moved to third in the CONMEBOL table.

In an interview with Spanish football magazine Panenka, Martino, who coached Barca in the 2013-14 season, said that players like Messi needed some time to recover from setbacks but it generally did not take him too long.

"We spoke with Leo a fortnight ago," Martino said. "It is true that we lost two finals. It's also true that the most recent games against Bolivia and Chile were enough to say that he is always up for it.

"After a big defeat any player feels affected -- it is about how long he needs to recover. That process is always shorter with this class of player. He had a dip in his form at Barcelona, but we have also seen what happened last weekend.

"There are no doubts about him on a footballing level. On a personal level it is normal that he is affected, and that it gets sorted out."

Asked to compare Messi to former Argentina superstar Diego Maradona, Martino said they were very similar as players on the pitch but Maradona had been a much more vocal leadership presence in the dressing room.

Martino, who played alongside Maradona at Newell's Old Boys, said: "[Messi] does everything naturally, when he plays and when he trains.

"At Barca he was the same -- a quiet guy who would only speak when necessary -- but when he did speak, you took notice. They both win when it comes to dribbling, also in terms of vision, dead balls... as for leadership, maybe Diego had more of a role in the dressing room. It's not that Messi doesn't have that skill, but it doesn't interest him. He wants to play football."

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