Lionel Messi and Barcelona have been in the news for the worst of reasons since the start of 2020. First, it was the Argentine who slammed the board for sacking Ernesto Valverde and Messi was the one who slammed the team on social media. Quique Setien was on the hot seat for about six months and the turmoil in Barca camp continued to get worse with each passing day. The final nail in the coffin for Barcelona was the time when the Catalan Giants lost the game 8-2 against Bayern Munich in the Champions League 2019-20. This led to the ouster of Setien. Now, in an interview, Setien admitted that Messi is difficult to manage. Lionel Messi Gets a Yellow Card After Kicking the Ball at Referee During Deportivo Alaves vs Barcelona, La Liga 2020, Fans Bash Referee For Not Giving a 'Deserving' Red Card (Watch Video).
He rated Lionel Messi as the best of the times but did not refrain from speaking his mind. "Leo is difficult to manage. Who am I to change him! If they have accepted him as he is for years and have not changed him, " said the former Barcelona coach. He also mentioned that there is a facet that just the player which is much more difficult to manage. Setien further revealed that Messi is very reserved and does not talk much. The former Real Betis coach further mentioned that he would have made better decisions had he not thought about the individual players.
Lionel Messi is currently in the news for missing out a penalty during Alaves vs Barcelona last night. As a result, the fans trolled him mercilessly on social media and dug up the previous records which stated that the Argentine only has one shot on target out of 45.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 01, 2020 04:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).