Ivan Rakitic highlighted the great Champions League which, as part of the FC Barcelona squad, he won in 2015, on the way to the second treble in the history of the Barça club. “The 2014-15 Champions League was the best campaign in the history of the Champions League,” emphasized the Croatian midfielder, because the squad then coached by Luis Enrique Martínez successively removed the champions of England (Manchester City) , France (PSG), Germany (Bayern Munich) and Italy (Juventus).
The current Al-Shabab player raised that Champions League above others in words for the Saudi podcast ‘MicsPod. “At Barcelona it’s not enough to just win, you have to win with style,” explained Rakitic, author of the 1-0 in the Berlin final against Juventus.
Croatian international midfielder. who also made history at Sevilla FC, regretted not winning more ‘orejonas’ as a Barça player with the great team they had. “We lost the Champions League in 2018 and 2019 ourselves. Of course the rivals deserved it, but I don’t think we worked hard enough. Maybe we got tired of winning. When you win a lot, you lose focus and not paying attention to the details, and then when they kill you,” he recalled.
In fact, he linked Neynar’s departure from PSG in 2017 as one of the reasons Barça blamed for his declining potential. “Neymar makes football like a dance, I think he has a lot more to give,” he praised his former teammate, whom he pointed out as his favorite player.
Regarding Real Madrid, “Barça is doing generational change too quickly and Madrid, little by little.” “Modric and Kroos are still at the club, taking care of the youngsters, at Barça there are changes too quickly,” he said.
About his other teammates at Barça, Rakitic also spoke. He said of Leo Messi that he is the best in history and if he sets out to be, “he can be the best left in the world if he wants”, although he also said that he is not “the best captain to tell you if what should you do, because he is different, different.” He noted of Luis Suárez that “he has two personalities: one on the field and one off; he is an animal, with a chance he will kill you.”
Rakitic won four Ligas, four Copas del Rey and one Champions League with Barça, among other titles. And yet, he came up short: “We might have gotten tired of winning,” he said.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
