Lionel Messi now part of the problem at Barcelona

by Grant Boone
in Sports
— Nov 24, 2020

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His irritation with his situation in Catalonia and Thursday's news of Pep Guardiola signing a new two-year contract at the Etihad Stadium heightened speculation that the player and tactician could reunite at Manchester City. City will be without versatile midfielder Fernandinho due to illness.

"Messi still has a contract and in my opinion he has to stay here", Koeman said in a press conference on Friday, ahead of Saturday's crunch La Liga game away at Atletico Madrid.

"I want him to finish his career there".

With a presidential election at Barcelona scheduled for late-January, there remains a hope within the club that whoever replaces the outgoing Josep Maria Bartomeu - whose strained relationship with Messi has been a central factor in the player's discontent - will be able to persuade him to stay at Camp Nou for the rest of his career. That is what I want.

They did not say how long the defender is expected to be sidelined, but similar injuries tend to require months of recovery time.

"I would like as a Barcelona fan for Leo to finish there".

Sterling sustained a calf injury while training with England ahead of their game against Belgium, while Ake had to be taken off early in the Netherlands' game against Spain on November 12 with a muscle injury.

"Sergio (Aguero) is training this week and Raheem (Sterling) today was the first training with the team".

Last season's runners-up face a Spurs side in good form, with Mourinho's Tottenham sitting third in the league standings and having won five of their last six games across all competitions.

Matches continue to be played behind closed doors amid the coronavirus pandemic with no firm plans for crowds to be reintroduced.

"Until the vaccine is here and secure - I don't know if I want to risk it, to put more people there and contaminate". "We have a lot of top players but the life of the squad is always changing. They will know exactly what we have to do". "I said the doctor because he accused us of something we have done that is not true".

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