Things have been heating up at Barcelona just recently.
Firstly, there was the issue between sporting director Eric Abidal and captain Lionel Messi, reported by The Guardian, in which the Frenchman alleged that some players weren’t happy with Ernesto Valverde, prompting a direct response from Messi asking Abidal to name them.
Then came the social media scandal that engulfed the club, reported by MARCA, which allegedly involved the hire of a PR company to discredit certain individuals whilst cleaning up the image of president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, cited by The Guardian Messi also noted: “The way we are right now I don’t think it’s enough to win the Champions League.”
When your captain comes out with such statements, as honest as they may be, then there has to be something wrong behind the scenes.
In the aftermath of Barca’s 1-1 draw against Napoli in the Champions League Round of 16 game, Sergio Busquets, ruled out for the second leg of the tie after receiving a booking, really put the cat amongst the pigeons too with his post-match comment.
“We don’t have a deep squad because, unfortunately, that’s how it was planned,” he said to Movistar.
Quite how that will go down in the boardroom at the club is anyone’s guess but given the lack of experience and quality on the bench for Barcelona on Tuesday night, it could be argued that the midfield stalwart makes a valid point.
Whether or not it proves to be costly for Barcelona remains to be seen, as they are already without Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto due to injury.
