Messi says working with Mourinho would be difficult

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi says he would find it difficult to work with Real’s straight-talking Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho in an interview published on Wednesday in Spain.

“It would be very difficult, no?” the 23-year-old told sports daily Mundo Deportivo when asked if he could work with Mourinho.

“If Mourinho came to Barcelona he would have to speak in another way. I don’t have anything against Mourinho, or against anybody, and the people who work with him speak very well of Mourinho,” he added.

“Nor do I think I would have any problems but I don’t think it will happen.”

Mourinho worked for Barcelona, first as Sir Bobby Robson’s translator and then as Louis van Gaal’s assistant in the late 1990s, but has since become an unpopular figure at the club because of swipes he has taken at the Catalan side while at Chelsea and most recently at Real.

Messi, the Fifa World Player of the Year in 2009, said he hoped to score his first goal against a team coached by Mourinho when Real and Barcelona face off on November 29 in the first “classico” match of the season.

“Until now it has not happened and hopefully it will happen in the match against Madrid, but the goal would not be against Mourinho but against Real Madrid. It would make me happy for my own good and for the team, nothing else,” he said.

Real are top of the league with 29 points, one point ahead of arch-rivals Barcelona, after beating Sporting Gijon on Sunday 1-0.

Mourinho, 47, was unveiled as Real’s new coach at the end of May after leading Inter Milan to an historic treble of successes in Italy’s Serie A championship, the Italian Cup and Champions League.