Barca director in furious row with Messi
Eric Abidal
E
ric Abidal is a hugely
popular personality
at Barcelona, thanks
to his part in the
Champions League
victories of 2009 and
2011 and his recovery
from life-threatening liver cancer to
resume his playing career. But the
Frenchman’s role as a unifying figure
at Camp Nou has been placed in doubt
after Barca’s director of football clashed
with the club’s untouchable superstar,
Lionel Messi.
After a tumultuous few weeks – duringHeadliners
which Ernesto Valverde was sacked and
replaced as coach by Quique Setien, the
team experienced a run of poor results,
and the directors were criticised for a
disappointing January transfer window- Abidal came under pressure to defend
himself and the club’s hierarchy.
In an interview with Catalan newspaper
Sport, Abidal effectively accused the
senior players of downing tools to get
Valverde sacked. In doing so he exposed
deep fault lines at the club.
“There are things that I can smell as a
former player,” he said in the controversial
article. “I watched the games and didn’t
look at the result. I looked at how the
games were played, the tactics and the
work of the players who didn’t play much.
I looked at those details.
“Many players were not satisfied or
weren’t working hard and there was
also an internal communication issue.
“I told the club what I thought and
they had to make a decision.”
Valverde was dismissed in mid-January
and replaced by former Real Betis boss
Setien, but Abidal explained the move
was in the works for about a month.
“It was a club decision,” he said. “But
we already saw that the problem wasCaution...Lionel
Messi is booked in
the cup defeat at
Athletic Bilbao