Malcom: Lionel Messi covers up problems at Barcelona

Malcom Oliveira, formerly of Barcelona and now at Zenit St Petersburg, spoke to Marca about Lionel Messi. The Brazilian thinks his ex-team-mate is so good that he covers up problems at the club.

Asked if he does, Malcom said: "Yes, some of them, yes. But there's also Luis Suarez, Griezmann, Rakitic, De Jong, Arthur, Vidal and many other players too."

He has good memories. "Not just Leo, it's all the group. Leo is the best in the world, sometimes he does a madness and that helps Barca a lot. For that sometimes when they talk about Barca they talk about Leo. It's normal, for everything he does."

In the interview with Marca he said that he left for minutes. "I didn't have problems there nor did I leave with problems, I still speak sometimes with Abidal. I left for Zenit because I wanted to play. I left a bit sad but I knew that I made a dream come true, I played in the Champions League and scored, scored against Real Madrid in a Clasico. And I left calmly because I did a good job."