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Lionel Messi said on Friday that the way Luis Suárez had been fired was another sign of trouble at Barcelona, but “the truth is that nothing surprises me anymore.”
The day after the Uruguayan striker tearfully said goodbye to Barcelona after the club sent him to Atlético de Madrid, Messi expressed his sadness and dismay.
“You deserved to be expelled for what you are: one of the most important players in the club’s history,” Messi wrote. “And not get fired the way they did.”
Suárez responded to Messi’s publication praising the Argentine and pointing out evenings critical of Barça’s management.
“You are the number, don’t let some blur how giant you are for the club and for the world of football,” Suarez wrote.
Neymar, who completed the MSN offensive trio between 2014 and 2017 before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain, joined the thread with a terse: “Amazing how they do things.”
Messi has a long-standing feud with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, which escalated after Bayern humiliated them 8-2 in the Champions League quarter-finals in August.
Messi tried to force his exit before accepting that he would have to finish the last year of his contract. Meanwhile, two of his closest friends on the team have left, Suárez and Chilean Arturo Vidal.
Monaco midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who spent two seasons at the Camp Nou, told a press conference that he was unhappy with the way Barcelona had treated some players.
“We are talking about players who gave their lives for Barça,” he said. “That makes me sad.”
“Soccer is not just about what is on the field. Behind the scenes there are many things, and above all people.”
“The club is going through difficult times,” Fabregas said, before noting that Bartomeu faces an election soon. “I think many things will change. I hope the club improves.”
Suárez, 33, completed his medical exam in Madrid on Friday and signed for Atlético for two years.
“I’m going to keep playing, with new motivation, with the aim of showing that I can keep competing,” said Suárez.
On Thursday, Suarez, who scored 198 goals for Barça to become the third top scorer in the club’s history, wept as he made an impromptu farewell to the club.
Messi was also sentimental on Friday.
“Today I entered the locker room and the terrible truth hit me,” Messi posted.
Messi and Suárez were neighbors in the coastal neighborhood of Castelldefels and would arrive together for training.
“How difficult it will be not to continue sharing the days with you, both on and off the pitch,” Messi wrote in a post accompanied by seven photographs of the two men together, sometimes with their families. “We are going to miss you a lot. Many years have passed, many cups of mate, lunches, dinners … Many things that I will never forget.”
“I love you very much, I love you very much. See you soon, my friend.”
Suarez responded in a similar tone.
“Thank you my friend for your words, but more than that, thank you for being who you are, for what you were from the first day with me and my family,” wrote Suárez. “I will always be grateful to the human Messi, the funny and sentimental one, because everyone knows the player.”
Barcelona will face Suarez’s new club at least twice, in La Liga, this season.
“It will be strange to see you with another shirt and much more expensive,” Messi wrote. “But I wish them all the best in this new challenge.”
Suárez had already pointed out that the two have met before in very charged matches.
“I already played against him in the Uruguay-Argentina matches, playing against each other is not going to change the feelings we have,” said Suárez.
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