Rakitic banters Lionel Messi: “He’s never going to win the tournament I won”

Sevilla could not stop Barcelona from making a comeback in the second leg of the Copa del Rey game at the Camp Nou. The Catalan team managed to knock out the Nervionenses, and Ivan Rakitic, the former Barcelona player and current Sevilla midfielder spoke in an interview with La Liga TV (relayed by Goal).

“I was talking to Messi one day, I told him he had won everything and scored a lot of goals. But he’s never going to win the tournament I won: The Europa League,” said Rakitic jokingly.

Rakitic had won the Europe League with Sevilla before joining Barcelona in 2013-14 and was key in his team’s campaign. The Croatian spent a total of six seasons at the Catalan club and made his return to Sevilla afterwards.

READ: Five key stats from Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla

The 32-year-old also relieved some of his memories at the Catalan club, where he has won 13 trophies in total:

“The team’s thirst for titles was amazing at Barcelona. I’m glad that I spent a great year with Xavi, and more years with Iniesta, with whom I have strengthened my relationship on the pitch as well.”

“I learned a lot from these people on the pitch. But I learned more of them off the field. Seeing them every day, made me know why they were the best.”

With the collective performance on Wednesday against Sevilla, Barcelona have shown their hunger for titles – after a long time – once again.

It looks like Ronald Koeman has taken the club to the level that we all are used to see from Barcelona amidst a club crisis, but we have to wait and see whether the Dutch coach can stay consistent with the results.