BARCELONA star Lionel Messi prefers to focus on winning trophies rather than attempting to better the 73 goals he scored last season.

The world Player-of-the-Year rattled in an unprecedented tally in all competitions in the last campaign, helping Pep Guardiola end his four-year spell as coach with another four trophies to add to the 10 he had already won.

The Argentinian said: "I'm not looking to beat my tally of goals, that is not my objective.

"I want to try and develop as a player and to give more to the team. I hope I still have margin to continue improving. My objective is to win more titles."

Both Chelsea and Real Madrid and Chelsea denied Barca the major prizes last year, Jose Mourinho's Madrid side winning La Liga and Chelsea knocking them out of the Champions League in the semi- finals before winning in the final against Bayern Munich.

"I hope we can get back to winning everything again," he added.

"We know it is very difficult to do, but I am still hurting from losing the semi-final against Chelsea with the penalty I missed, and La Liga with the defeat to Madrid at the Nou Camp."

Guardiola's number two over the last four years, Tito Vilanova, has stepped up to take the reins this season and Messi gave him his backing.

"He helped me improve a great deal when I was younger," he said. "I am very pleased to have him here."