Barcelona star Lionel Messi believes his side's victories have been hard-fought.

Speaking to Sport, Messi said: "We have to work every game and no one is giving us anything.

"From the kick off, we go out to win the match by playing our game right until the end. This is our mentality."

The wonder winger also addressed their recent 4-1 win over Racing Santander.

"On Tuesday night the team played a great game by having the calmness of keeping the ball at all times and playing at pace.

"There are always things to improve on - Tuesday we did better compared to how we played against Atletico Madrid.

"We had the order that we lost against Atletico, and we had the ball.

"In the second half against Atletico, we allowed them to have a bit more of the ball and did not pressure them as we did in the first half, but we recovered our usual style."

The 22-year-old also has full confidence that new teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic will ease into their side.

"We are still getting to know 'Ibra', even though adapting is easy because of the quality he has. I have to know his movements and vice versa.

"Little by little, we will understand each other better," Messi added.