Antoine Griezmann has rejected criticism of Atletico Madrid teammate Joao Felix.
Felix left Atletico in January for Chelsea on-loan, a move which coincided with the Spanish giants' sudden form surge.
Asked if Felix's absence was reason for Atletico's improvement, Griezmann said: "It wasn't because of him leaving.
"João Félix brought a lot of good things to the team, he was Spanish champion in his second season at the club, I've been here nine years and I haven't won any championships.
"After the World Cup, the whole team changed its mentality. Now we're here with a lot of energy and a lot of focus, this break did us good."
Barca manager Giraldez says Bronze 'feeling much better' after hobbling off
Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez says Lucy Bronze "feeling much better" after hobbling off with a knee injury against Chelsea, giving England another injury scare.
The defender went down in the 65th minute clutching her knee, receiving medical attention in the pitch. Concerns were heightened when, as she went to walk off, her knee gave away.
She stumbled a few steps and appeared to be closed to tears as she hopped down the tunnel. However, she later reappeared on the bench with her knee strapped with ice, before walking around the pitch at full-time with her Barcelona team-mates, albeit with a limp.
In his post-match press conference, Giraldez confirmed Bronze is OK, despite appearing to be a bad injury at the time.
"Initially Lucy was a bit worried about her injury, she felt her pain in her knee, but now she's feeling much better about it,", he said.
The scare comes after England captain Leah Williamson was ruled out of the World Cup on Friday after rupturing her ACL in Wednesday's WSL defeat to Manchester United.
Beth Mead is also expected to miss the tournament after injuring her ACL in November - also against Man Utd - while Millie Bright remains out for a number of weeks.
She has also picked up a knee injury, although not an ACL, and her fitness for the World Cup also remains a doubt.