[ad_1]
Lionel Messi was the main topic of recent weeks in the European football market, but he has not moved. Although he is not satisfied, the star is still in Barcelona. Now, he is heading into a season of uncertainty, having to reluctantly manage his stay so as not to tarnish a career that until then has been impeccable. Under the sports lists your challenges and those of the club this season.
Shaken relationship with the crowd?
The biggest public demonstrations by Barcelona fans were in favor of Messi and against President Josep Maria Bartomeu. Last week, the Camp Nou was the scene of protests for two days in a row, and the slogan was in favor of jersey 10 (see photos above). Apparently, the Argentine opens his possible last season at the club with the fans at his side.
Whoever played at Barcelona reinforces the chorus and bets that the relationship was not tense. “If he stays, I can’t see him being booed at the Camp Nou,” Rivaldo recently told ESPN.
On the field and in the locker room, a key piece
Barcelona need Messi more than ever. The transfer window suggests that the team, undergoing reconstruction and a new coach, will have to work hard to become competitive again in Spain, even more so in the Champions League, which Messi wants to win again. The team announced the midfielder Pjanic (ex Juventus) and three bets: the winger Pedri y Trincão and the Brazilian Matheus Fernandes (ex Palmeiras); but he has already lost midfielders Arthur and Rakitic, he doesn’t know exactly what to do with Phillipe Coutinho and Vidal and Luis Suárez have everything to be the next to leave.
All this tends to increase the weight on Messi’s shoulders, who in the last season already showed signs of irritation. Natural leader of the cast, he even made his irritation clear, publicly: in a Spanish match he celebrated a great goal with a gesture of outburst, then he released the verb saying that it would not be possible to win the Champions League, which was correct. Now, without the big names he used to share the locker room with, the responsibility is likely to grow even more.
Relationship with the new coach
According to Spanish radio RAC1, Messi warned Ronald Koeman that he was “more outside than inside” of Barcelona in the first conversation they had two weeks ago. He would have explained his reasons to the new coach, hired to replace Quique Setién – who was the target of not so veiled criticism for the 10 shirt.
Koeman was hired to remodel Barcelona, and at the presentation he said that “I would be delighted to work with Messi” and that he hoped the star would remain in Barcelona for more years. In an interview with Goal, Messi only referred to the coach once and with little optimism.
“Now I don’t know what will happen: there is a new coach, a new idea, and that’s good, but we have to see how the team responds, if we are going to have enough to compete,” he said.
Break the board
Messi remains at Barcelona, as a jersey 10 and captain, but curiously broken with the president of the club. He made it clear that he “seeks new goals, new airs” and simply did not leave because Bartomeu threatened to take the matter to court. In this scenario, the player felt ignored by the coach.
“The president always said that at the end of the season I could decide whether to stay or not, but at the end of the day he did not keep his word,” Messi said in an interview with the Goal website, amid criticism of the Bartomeu administration. . “It’s been a long time since there was a project or something, they’ve been juggling and plugging holes as things happen,” he complained.
