Messi: "Martino has fitted in really well from day one"

Lionel Messi appears to have finally shaken off the fitness issues that plagued him at the end of last season and the beginning of this campaign. With five goals in three league games, he has hit the ground running under the new Barcelona regime.

Messi is delighted with the way Gerardo Martino and Neymar have settled into the set-up. "He's fitted in really well from day one", the pint-sized forward said about his new coach.

The Barça fans expect big things from the Argentine's partnership with Brazilian starlet Neymar and the pair have started to click in recent games: "We're slowly but surely getting to know one another on the pitch and we'll be looking to link up more and more", he told local TV channel 'CN23' from the Argentinian national team camp.

Messi admitted that shrugging off his injury woes has proven a struggle. "I was only half-fit against PSG in the Champions League and that's when it all went wrong. It's not easy to recover when an injury recurs".

Besides being bang in form on the pitch, Messi is loving life off it, with his son Thiago having just celebrated his 10-month birthday: "Time goes by in a flash. We couldn't be happier with everything we're experiencing with him".