The Spanish La Liga winner lost
7-0 on aggregate
to German club Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of this year's competition. That result led to suggestions that the
Catalans' 'tiki-taka' passing game had been overtaken by the German power.
"We can't lose our heads. We can't change our style of play,"
the 25-year-old Argentina international attacker was quoted as saying. "You can't always win," added Messi,
"we've been playing our brand of football for years and managers and teams have studied it. We have to stay calm and focus on next year."
However, defender Gerard Pique thought the Spanish club
would have to change and said: "We are not the best any more, other
teams are." Club Vice President Josep Bartomeu has also stated his belief that "four or five" new signings are required.
Despite their Champions League campaign ending in disappointment,
Barca claimed the La Liga title back from Real Madrid
with four games left to play. This success came amid repeated health fears for head coach Tito Vilanova, who was
sidelined for three months
in December following
an operation in New York
to treat throat cancer.
Vilanova, 44, in his
first season in sole charge of the club
after moving up from assistant to
replace former boss Pep Guardiola,
has also travelled back to America this week for more
"pioneering treatment".
Messi believed the coach's absence has had a destabilising effect on the team. "Things went well with Tito, because he practically didn't change anything," said Messi.
"But we noticed a change when he left, not because
Jordi Roura or the training staff who stayed on didn't do a good job but
because we were missing our head manager. It wasn't the same. One year is a long time and it's great that we can finish it by celebrating."
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