Lionel Messi Admits He, Paulo Dybala Struggle to Play Together for Argentina

Lionel Messi has stressed that there is no misunderstanding between he and international teammate Paulo Dybala.

Lionel Messi has stressed that there is no misunderstanding between he and international teammate Paulo Dybala.

The Juventus forward had admitted that he found it difficult to play alongside Messi for Argentina because of positional similarities. Some viewed Dybala's comments as a complaint, but Messi has insisted that that was not the case.

“Paulo and I talked about that, what he said is true, for Juventus he plays the same role I do,” Messi told Fox Sports - quoted by Football Italia. “With me in the national team he played further out on the left, which he’s not as used to

“It’s more difficult for us to play there, I don’t often go out to the left. On the right we can cut in and have the whole pitch in front of us. I understood what he said, there was no need to clarify anything.”

Despite an impressive season for Juventus, Dybala faces a difficult task to break into Argentina's team for this summer's World Cup in Russia.

Coach Jorge Sampaoli has admitted that the 24-year-old is struggling to fit in to his system.

"It is complicated for Dybala to get used to our system," Sampaoli said. "We couldn't improve his performances and we have to evaluate if the current players [in this squad] are better than Paulo or if we have to keep working with Paulo to improve his performance."

Dybala has scored 21 goals in all competitions for Juventus this season, but has earned only 12 Argentina caps since making his debut in 2015.