Yerry Mina reveals why he didn't succeed at FC Barcelona

Yerry Mina gave an interview to 'Marca Colombia' where he spoke about many things including why he feels he didn't succeed at the Camp Nou.

"My mum liked Chelsea because Didier Drogba was there. I supported Barcelona because of Ronaldinho. Whenever he walked out onto a pitch, he made me laugh. I always wanted him to get the ball," the former Barça defender admitted. "It's the same with Lionel Messi now. He takes the ball and does incredible things. I always tried to imitate Ronaldinho's tricks."

Mina's time at Barça didn't last anywhere near as long as he expected it to either. "If I'm honest, I've always been about playing football. I just want to play, to enjoy myself. And that was my dream: to play for Barcelona. I could've chosen other teams, Borussia wanted him, other teams in Germany, Italy, England. But I only wanted to go to Barcelona."

MINA FOUND IT TOUGH AT THE START

"I don't regret going there because I learned a lot. I improved as a person and as a player," admitted Mina. He only managed to stay at the Camp Nou for a mere eight months and struggled to get any minutes during his first few weeks at the club. "I thought about a lot of things. I thought maybe I was finished. It got so bad that Paulinho and Coutinho kept coming over to me and saying: 'Relax, everything is going to be okay.'" That motivates you but, at the same time, demotivates you as well. You always want to play and be involved."

"I understood they had incredible players but I also wanted to have a bit of playing time. But I didn't get it. And those few minutes I did get out on the pitch.. I played badly. I felt like everything was bringing me down, that nothing was going right, that I couldn't even make a pass in training," confessed Mina.

"I spent so long training to keep fit and be ready but it wasn't like that. Everything you do when you aren't the chosen one, at whatever club you're at, is a very tough situation. I gave everything at Barcelona, trained hard, trained with the first team most of the time. But when I found out I wouldn't be travelling with the squad." 

THE BARÇA DRESSING ROOM

Mina got to share a dressing room with some of the biggest names in world football before he marched off to the Premier League. "They are incredible people. And so talented. When I arrived, I started betting with them as to who would score more freekicks in training. Then I realised they were taking €50 off me every day! The truth is those beasts put the ball wherever they want to," he said with a big smile across his face.