Valverde: Every team has decisive players, but we have the best in the world

Saturday afternoon posed a challenging fixture for Barcelona travelling to face Sevilla, though they overcame the obstacle thanks to a Lionel Messi hat-trick and now they can turn their thoughts to back-to-back Clasicos.

Real Madrid have been unhappy about the fixture list in the build-up to the midweek Copa del Rey match, as they will have had one less day to rest given that they play Levante on Sunday night.

Yet Ernesto Valverde has claimed that Barcelona can also be upset with the scheduling.

"Look, anyone can complain about the calendar," Valverde began when asked about this issue.

"Sevilla played on Wednesday and today, as we both were able to.

"It depends on the club that's talking about it.

"It can become more of an issue, but this happens to us all.

"If it happens, it happens."

He went on to discuss the match and the struggles his side had early on.

"We were losing, that much is clear, despite dominating possession," Valverde said.

"It was a bit misleading because they could attack us on the counter, that's how they got the first goal.

"I had the feeling that we had to change something to change the game somehow, sometimes you do it and lose and other times you win."

Much of the turnaround was due to the incredible display of Messi, which earned special praise from his coach.

"Three huge congratulations for the goals and another half for the pass, he is decisive and superlative," the former Athletic Club coach admired.

"Every team has decisive players, but we have the best in the world.

"Not only for goals, but also for how he comes to the right place at the right time."