After beating Sevilla 2-1 in the Spain La Liga on Saturday, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi revealed his teammates were affected by their 2-0 away loss to AC Milan in the Champions League last 16 first leg.

"You could see we came into this game off a poor result, but we were able to pull out the win," Messi told reporters after the Sevilla match.

David Villa and World Player of the Year Messi completed the second-half comeback to leave Barca top with 68 points from 25 games, 15 ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid.

"It's tough not to think about Milan. We know we didn't play our best game in the San Siro, even if it wasn't a reason to completely fall apart," he added.

Barcelona are scheduled to host arch-rivals Real Madrid in the semifinals of the Spain Copa del Rey on Tuesday.

"Madrid has an incredible team and we will have to be at our best to reach the final," Messi revealed.

"We will have to play like we always do and not let the Milan game affect us."

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