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17.04.2008 18:02
“This time I want to play in the Champions League final”
Àngels Prieto
Leo Messi missed the 2006 semi-finals against Milan and the final in Paris due to injury. So he’s doubly motivated to eliminate Manchester United and reach the Moscow final.
Leo Messi was an important member of the squad that won Barça’s second European Cup but missed the final stages of Barça’s successful Champions League campaign in 2006 due to injury.
Now, two years later, Messi has the chance to make history alongside his team-mates
but he wants to take an active part: “It was very hard for me not even to be able to play the
quarterfinals against Benfica. For that reason I’m really keen to play in the semi-finals
against Manchester United and I hope to reach the final”.
Messi admits that United are looking very strong: “They’re playing really well and they have some fantastic players such as Cristiano Ronaldo. But we’re in good shape and we can also qualify because we’re a great team”.
A run out against Espanyol
Leo Messi also stressed that the players have not forgotten the last derby against Espanyol in the Camp Nou and the significance of the last-gasp draw achieved by the visitors: “It’s true that the league looks difficult but a derby is a derby, and more so after what happened last year. Also it’ll do me good to play a bit before next Wednesday’s Champions League match”.
A book for charity
Leo Messi has written the prologue to the book “39 historias solidarias alrededor del
deporte” (39 stories of solidarity in sport), which is in its fourth edition this year. The
book, which will be available from St George’s Day onwards in the Corte Inglés department
stores, has been written by 39 sports journalists. It’s priced at 10 euros and proceeds will
go to the “Associació Catalana Síndrome X Frágil”, a largely unknown illness despite
being the most frequent cause of hereditary mental retardation
