Leo Messi spoke to ESPN to discuss what has gone wrong at Barcelona in recent weeks and to look forward to the Catalan side's crucial Champions League last 16 second leg match with AC Milan next Tuesday at the Camp Nou.

Team morale:"The team is not properly switched on. We've had some bad results and now is the time to lift ourselves up and trust in ourselves, to do what we have been doing in these last few years. We don't just need to play well, we need to focus on the fine details. We know that there are things we are not doing well."

Problem in recent matches: "We like to have the ball and we have been giving teams a lot of space to launch the counterattack. It happened with Milan and with Madrid, who have very quick players like Benzema, Di Maria, Pipa (Higuain) and Cristiano. We need to slow games down."

Solution: "Now is the time to turn this situation around. This could be the time we lift ourselves up again but we'll have to be strong to beat Milan and qualify for the quarter finals. We know that there are people who want us to lose so that they can start saying that the era of Barcelona is over, as they said last year when things weren't going well for us."

Pressure at Barcelona: "This is what it's like at this club. Winning is the norm and if you lose two games everything goes downhill. The fans understand this situation and we have no problem. There's no need to talk about replacing players, the majority of them are very young."

Cristiano: "He has an incredible leap and is spectacular at heading the ball. He is one of the best in the world in that area."

Xavi and Iniesta:"They are the best in controlling the play."

La Liga:"It is still not wrapped up, even though we are in a comfortable situation. We have a good advantage due to being so far ahead in points over Atlético in second place but we need to make it count."