Louis van Gaal praises James Milner but blames Lionel Messi

Louis Van Gaal

Former Dutch Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal, explain Barca's failure to reach the final of the Champions League and also Lionel Messi.

"I like Messi as an individual player. He is the best individual player in the world because his statistics are amazing," he said.

Lionel Messi(left)

"But why has he not won the Champions League since four years ago? Why? As a captain, you must ask yourself why the team does not win in Europe. Barça has a wonderful squad. You can not say that Rakitic is bad, or that Coutinho is bad, or that Alba is a bad player, or Ter Stegen is a bad goalie, or Arthur or Vidal are bad. I think Messi is also responsible for what is happening in Barcelona, not just the coach. Players have a substantial part of responsibility for what happens on the team".

He also compares Barca's with Liverpool's squad, highlighting James Milner.

"In the final of the Champions League, Milner played as a defender and as a midfielder. It's great that he can offer that at 33," he continued.

"The forwards? Everyone plays for the team. Salah, Firmino and Mané work very hard in defence because Klopp wants to press. He saw the light a few months ago: he understood that pressing is not always the right thing to do. It depends on the conditions. His Dortmund was more offensive than his Liverpool side, where he learned that sometimes you have to hold a little bit, collect your lines and counterattack. That is good for Salah, Mané and Firmino because they are very quick to take advantage of the spaces behind the rival defence."