Barcelona chief Guillermo Amor says Lionel Messi is in good spirits.
Amor says Messi was fine after last night’s disappointing defeat at home to Granada.
“I saw him very well, as always, he scored the goal but it was difficult for him,” said Amor.
“His future? We want him to stay but we must leave him alone and let him decide what he wants to do and when he wants it.”
The defeat saw Barca miss the chance to go top of the LaLiga table.
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is eager to see Lionel Messi stay.
Off contract in June, the future of Messi remains in doubt, despite his good relationship with new Barca president Joan Laporta.
Iniesta, now with Vissel Kobe, says he wants to see Messi stay.
He said, “My desire and I believe that of all Barca fans is that Leo can stay at Barcelona until he retires.
“Barça without Leo is no longer Barça.”
Barcelona legend Xavi is baffled that there’s doubt about the future at the club of Lionel Messi.
The Al Sadd coach has had his say on Messi’s situation as the Barca captain’s contract runs down.
Xavi said, “We have to see that Leo is happy because with a happy Messi, you have more chances to win titles and that things work.
“Many times it has given me the feeling that Leo was not happy on the field, he looked sad, and that as a Culé it gave me a lot of pain.
“We have not taken enough advantage over these years to have the best player in the world with us.
“That he has not felt happy in the club makes me sad. Things must have been done very badly so that Leo has not felt happy there.”
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reaffirmed hopes of Lionel Messi playing out his career with Barcelona.
Off contract in June, Messi has been linked with City and PSG this season.
But Guardiola told TV3: “I hope he can finish his career at Barça. Messi will not find a better home than Barça. The only thing to do, as our dear professor said, is to go back to the origins, to save the cause of things, which makes Barça special in many areas in the way they play.
“The future of Messi? We know how to do it. The founding thing is already done. All you have to do is dust it off, put oil on it, nails … and start over. There is no better club to do it.”
Four goals in 12 minutes from Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong and Lionel Messi gave a rampant Barcelona a 4-0 win over Athletic Club in the final of the Copa del Rey
The Basque side faced their second cup final this month after defeat to Real Sociedad in the final of the 2019/20 edition of the competition two weeks ago and Barca made sure it would be another disappointing night for Marcelino and his players
Gerard Pique returned to the Barca starting lineup after a number of weeks out through injury while Marcelino made no fewer than nine changes to the Athletic Club team that drew at home to Alaves last weekend
Barcelona enjoyed the better of the first half possession and struck the woodwork within the opening 10 minutes when De Jong hit the base of the post with a low finish after being set up by Messi.
The breakthrough was finally made when Griezmann slammed a finish past Unai Simon from a de Jong square pass into the middle with the Dutch midfielder scoring a goal of his own soon after, heading home a Jordi Alba cross to the back post.
Messi scored the pick of the bunch just moments later to put the final beyond the reach of Athletic Club, bursting into the box following a one-two and a piece of trickery to finish into the far corner.
And Messi completed a 12-minute blitz of the Basque side with a low finish past Simon, who got a hand to the strike, from an Alba cut back to make it 4-0 with Griezmann having a fifth chalked off for offside. Ronald Koeman’s side will now turn their attention back towards the title race at the top of Liga with Getafe up next on Thursday.
Christian Pulisic broke Lionel Messi’s record for how many times he was fouled during Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final tie against FC Porto.
Thomas Tuchel’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat in Seville on Tuesday night but moved into the semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win.
Porto couldn’t find a goal until stoppage time, and instead of targeting a goal during the game, they looked at Pulisic and constantly hacked away at the 22-year-old.
He was fouled 11 times, and as per ESPN, that is the most in a single Champions League match since Messi back in 2011 against Real Madrid.
Pulisic’s positive performance came two days after he had admitted his 2020-21 campaign has not gone exactly to plan.
The forward went several months without scoring and found himself outside of Tuchel’s lineup until gaining favour in recent weeks.
“It has not been an easy season,” Pulisic said to Chelsea’s official website in the build-up to the Porto match.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi “goes out to assassinate the goalkeepers” when he takes to the pitch, says Willy Caballero, who admits that his fellow Argentine is forever on a “mission” to find the target.
Chelsea keeper Caballero has lined up against and alongside Messi down the years and is well placed to pass judgement on what makes the mercurial 33-year-old so special.
Caballero, who has formed part of Argentina national squads and turned out in La Liga over the course of his career, told 90min: “Facing Messi, I had to suffer.
“He goes out to assassinate the goalkeepers.
“The goalkeepers, the defenders – he’s going to kill [them]. And killing means scoring as many goals as possible.
“He doesn’t care if you know him, if you’re Argentine or if you’re a friend. He’ll talk to you afterwards, greet you and everything else, but in those 90 minutes he’s on a mission to hit you with goals.”
Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich has admitted that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the players he would most like to line up next to at club level, while adding that Barca legend Xavi was his biggest influence while growing up.
As a Champions League and Club World Cup winner with Bayern, Kimmich has a wealth of experience and can boast playing alongside the current Best FIFA Men’s Player in Robert Lewandowski.
At just 26 years old, the versatile midfielder still has plenty of years left in his career and admits that sharing a locker room with a multiple Ballon d’Or-winning duo would be a welcome addition to his footballing bucket list.
Asked by Bild who he would most like to play with, Kimmich said: “Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“For me, it’s so impressive, almost unbelievable, how you can maintain this level for over 15 years. I’d like to see what they do every day.”
“My role model was always Xavi Hernandez from Barcelona,” Kimmich said. “He was never the biggest, but he played with vision, technique and [superb] passing, always bringing others into the game.
“He impressed me and that’s how I wanted to play. I got to know him during a training camp in Doha and it was a really cool moment!”
Atletico Madrid ace Luis Suarez admits he still follows the results of former club Barcelona closely.
Barca, after their 6-1 win at Real Sociedad, are now four points behind LaLiga leaders Atletico.
On the Barca win, Suarez said on a Twitch stream: “Yes, a great game, it was spectacular. When a team is in positive dynamics and has the best in the world, it shows. When you see that the rival suffers everywhere on the pitch, you realise that they were going to win. When you admire football, you see that game, how they have fun…
“Yes (I follow Barca), because I like to watch football and I have friends there. I have admiration for the team I defended and I will be grateful. I talk to Messi almost daily, but we talk about many things and sometimes about matches, but also about personal things.”
Barcelona midfielder Pedri is hopeful of Lionel Messi staying.
Messi is off contract in June and weighing up what to do next season.
Pedri told El Club del Deportista: “When I was next to him, I was very shocked to see him. To see him on television or in a video game … I almost did not believe it.
“Playing with Messi is easy because when you give it to him you know that things are going to happen. And that’s what I try to do, give it to him in the best conditions so that it is the most beneficial for the team.
“I hope I can be close to him for several years. It would be great if I could enjoy Messi and learn many things at his side.”