Messi is holding back Alexis, suggests Valdano

The former Real Madrid director
feels the Chile star has lost
confidence in his own style of play
whilst playing in the shadow of the
Argentine at Camp Nou
Former Argentina international Jorge
Valdano believes that the presence of
Lionel Messi has prevented Alexis
Sanchez from fulfilling his potential at
Barcelona.
The Chilean joined Barca from Udinese in
the summer of 2011, but has so far been
unable to replicate his scintillating Serie A
form for the Blaugrana, prompting
rumours of a potential exit from the club.
Valdano believes the 24-year-old could be
affected by playing in the shadow of
talisman Messi, telling Radio Cooperativo:
"Alexis seems to be missing confidence.
He always used to have a lot of flair and
took on opponents. Now he seems to
prefer the safe route and pass to a team-
mate.
"Maybe Messi's presence overwhelms
him. You don't know how the mind of
certain top players works.
"I still remember Ariel Ortega at Valencia.
He used to do very well, but then
Romario came onto the scene and Ortega
just went missing all of a sudden."
Alexis has made 54 La Liga appearances
so far for Barcelona, scoring 20 goals in
the process.