Lionel Messi & Luis Enrique Spat in Barcelona Training Session
Barca defender Jeremy Mathieu revealed that Barcelona captain Lionel Messi and his coach Luis Enrique had an argument during a pre-season training session earlier this month, ESPN FC reported. The two, however, quickly made up after the spat.
Messi and Enrique are rumored to be having tensions in their relationship in recent weeks, ESPN FC explained. According to Mathieu, who transferred to the Camp Nou last summer, the pair exchanged angry and heated words on January 2 at the La Liga club's training center.
"It was when we got back from holiday," Mathieu revealed, as quoted by the news outlet. "Suddenly, for a foul that wasn't given, 'Leo' blew his top. Things got tense, they said a few things to each other."
He added, "The coach came to speak to him in the dressing room afterwards and that's that. It happens at every club, but because it's Barcelona, it's made out to be a huge thing. That's the problem."
Following the controversy between Messi and Enrique, Barcelona triumphed three times over champions Atletico Madrid in their Copa del Rey clash, Daily Mail reported.
Even though Mathieu claimed that the bust-up between Messi and Enrique ended there, the Spanish press insisted for more questions, laying out several other instances when tensions rose between the footballer and his coach.
Sport, a Barcelona-based newspaper, claimed that "Messi was angered by Enrique on the day the Asturian coach arrived at the club, declaring that he was the team leader," Daily Mail added in its report. Another instance was the time when Messi got upset "by the club firing kitman Txema Corbella, a great ally of the players, while two other companions, Cesc Fabregas and Jose Manuel Pinto had already left in the summer."
After the quarrel, Enrique dropped Messi for the clash against David Moyes' Real Sociedad, which Barcelona lost 1-0, the news outlet noted.
A report from Express said that Messi could be facing a £200m move to Chelsea or Manchester United after the heated row with Enrique. Barcelona have certainly downplayed the matter, and the coach has reportedly refused to comment.
Bayern Munich, on the other hand, shut down rumors claiming that the club will make a move for Messi once Barcelona sells him. CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that the La Liga club and Messi should not part ways with each other, according to a separate report from ESPN FC.
The Argentine footballer was also speculated to be switching to the Premier League. Reports are claiming that Messi could come back to his Blaugrana coach Pep Guardiola at Bayern, the news outlet noted.