Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has heaped praise on coach Ernesto Valverde following an impressive debut season at the Catalan club.
Valverde led Barca to the La Liga and Copa del Rey crowns during his first season in charge, although the Catalan giants did falter after being knocked out in infamous fashion at the hands of Roma in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The club's standout domestic fortunes came in a season which also saw key forward Messi record the best goalscoring and assists statistics with 34 league goals and 12 assists across the campaign, leading the Argentine to credit the influence of the club's new boss.
"With Valverde I feel spectacular because of the way he is," Messi told Sport. "Because of the way he talks with the players. He is such a good person, sincere."
Messi will next find himself in action when he leads Argentina into the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which gets underway on June 14.
Christopher Dodd
