• Sporting director had blamed players for Valverde sacking
• Messi can leave club in summer thanks to contract clause
Barcelona were plunged into crisis on Tuesday night when the captain Lionel Messi publicly called out the sporting director Eric Abidal, challenging him to name names and accusing him of tarnishing the players’ reputation.
The Argentinian furiously reacted to what he saw as Abidal’s attempt to lay the blame for the sacking of Ernesto Valverde with the players, and demanded that the Frenchman take responsibility for his own decisions. His outburst is all the more significant because Messi has a clause in his contract which enables him to unilaterally walk away for free at the end of the season.
Written by Sid Lowe
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/04/barcelona-meltdown-lionel-messi-eric-abidal under the title “Barcelona in meltdown after Lionel Messi hits back at Eric Abidal”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
