BARCELONA: Lionel Messi has hit back at Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal after the Frenchman blamed slackness in the dressing room for the departure of recently-fired coach Ernesto Valverde. In an interview with Spanish daily Sport Abidal said that under Valverde, who was sacked in mid-January, many players had been unhappy, hadn’t worked hard enough nor communicated properly. Now Argentine ace Messi has fired a salvo at across his own ranks just as the club are trying to get him to sign a contract extension. “We the players in the dressing room are the first to admit it when we haven’t played well. “We as a club want to make him even happier and to do that by surrounding him with the right teammates.

Source: New Strait Times February 04, 2020 20:48 UTC