Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has admitted it felt a bit strange playing against River Plate in the 2015 Club World Cup final.
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The Catalan club managed to lift their third Club World Cup title after beating the Argentine side 3-0 at the Yokohama Stadium in Japan in December, and Messi was recently asked if he felt strange playing against a team from his country of birth.
"Yes, it was, for a number of reasons, like the pitch and the number of fans supporting River," Messi told FIFA's official website.
"I know how excited all the fans and their players were about the game, and how important it was to them. That's part of football, though. Luckily, we managed to achieve what we wanted and win the game."
The Argentine, who scored the opening goal in the encounter against River Plate, was asked if his celebration was an apology to the River Plate supporters.
"It's like I said, I know how much effort all those fans made in making that trip and how excited they were," he added.
"And there was me, the Argentinian, scoring the first goal and ruining it all for them.
"I don't know if I was actually saying sorry, but it was a type of apology."
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Do you think Messi will lead Barcelona to another Club World Cup title in 2016? Have your say in the comments section below.
