Lionel Messi: “You fed a monster, he ate you”

Dhe anger of the injured Catalans discharged that night. Several fans of FC Barcelona moved to Camp Nou late Tuesday evening and loudly demanded the resignation of club president Josep Bartomeu. The announcement by Lionel Messi, the world footballer, the idol, to leave his club after 20 years caused horror in the coastal metropolis – and the culprit was quickly identified.

Messi’s relationship with Bartomeu has been disrupted for months. In the Corona crisis, there had been trouble between the stars and the club boss because of salary cuts. Messi had publicly criticized the club’s actions, feeling himself and his teammates as scapegoats. “Bad end of an era,” wrote the newspaper “El Mundo”. According to media reports, some directors of FC Barcelona want to resign soon, others propose a motion of no confidence in Bartomeu.

And Messi? The six-time world footballer, who has won so many titles with Barcelona and is a role model for millions, has not yet spoken out personally. FC Barcelona itself confirmed that he internally expressed his intention to leave with an urgent registered letter. One reason is said to be the new coach Ronald Koeman.

After taking office, the 57-year-old Dutchman is said to have questioned the Argentine superstar’s special status in an interview. “The privileges in the squad are over, everything has to be done for the team,” Koeman is said to have said according to a report on the Argentine online portal “Diario Olé”: “I will be inflexible, you have to think of the team.” it still, Koeman wanted to build a new team around Messi. The current team is considered full and partly overaged.

This is one of the reasons why the journalist Juanma Castano from Radio Cadena Cope attacked Messi: “It seems very unfair for him to slam the door at this moment. I cannot defend this position. That the Barcelona fans found out because Messi faxed Barça and an Argentine medium told them about it is incredible. Is a leader leaving? Not for me. For me, Messi shows that he is not a leader. Messi’s tyranny is over. Messi wasn’t a leader, he imposed his rules on the dressing room. And there are people in this cabin who have suffered from Messi. Bartomeu deserved it because he ruled Barça, because he is afraid of Messi. They fed a monster, and it ended up eating them.“

An overview of the comments of the big papers abroad:

Spain

AS: “There has been too much glorious history, the most glorious of all time for Barca, and it all ends like a tear in the rain. Neither Messi nor football deserve such an end. “

The newspaper: “War between Messi and Barca. The war has started. With the first unexpected step of the star, who had felt hurt for many months because of Josep Bartomeu. He blames the president for the sporting decline of the club. “

Sports world: “The bomb Messi: he wants to go! It is the chronicle of an announced divorce. “

The world: “Corrupted End of an Era”

Brand: “Leo Messi has just told the club that he wants to leave the club, that he no longer feels comfortable at Camp Nou, which was his kindergarten from an early age – and that is worse than any 2: 8.”

England

BBC: “Surely every club in the world would take the opportunity to recruit the Argentine superstar. But his situation is complicated and realistically only a few candidates have a chance to secure his signature. “

Mirror: “Losing Messi would be a catastrophic blow for the club on and off the field and they want to keep arguably the greatest player of all time. (…) But it is clear that his relationship with Barcelona seems to have reached a critical point, and after the bang on Tuesday it is difficult to imagine that there is a way back despite the attempts of the club. “

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Guardian: “Unsurprisingly, minutes after the bombshell that Messi was leaving Barcelona, ​​Manchester City were named an early signature favorite. Pep Guardiola and Messi have both won the Champions League twice with Barça and there may be temptation to team up to win the trophy again. “

Italy

The print: “It could be the soccer bomb of the summer.”

The Republic: “If it were available for free, there would be a race among all the greats in Europe. Inter have already started dreaming of prank of the century after Conte was confirmed. (…) And Juve? There you will hardly stand by and watch. They worked on Suarez there, in fact you can dream of Messi and a free transfer by bringing the sponsors into the game, as has already happened with Ronaldo (…) But Guardiola and Agüero at Manchester City also dream of Messi to hug again to throw off the Champions League curse. The snowball effect has only just begun and it will radically change the face of football. “

Gazzetta dello Sport: “The Messi shock.” (…) “It is difficult to imagine a sadder, more self-destructive, even more surreal ending: that Leo Messi informs Barcelona that he wants to leave now and for free (…) The relationship between Messi and Barça, which will now continue through lawyers and maybe courts. A relationship that seemed indissoluble and eternal. “

France

The Team: “And what if Neymar, after doing everything he could to answer Lionel Messi’s call to Barcelona for a year, welcomed his ex-pals to PSG? (…) As attractive as it may be, such an operation is “impossible” today, according to decision-makers in the capital. (…)

To imagine Messi appearing on the Eiffel Tower one day, there are two ways. The first would be to sell one of PSG’s two jewels, Neymar or Kylian Mbappé (under contract until 2022) to the highest bidder, with the latter selling for around € 300 million. But the tendency is more to want to extend with them and the sense of selling a 28- or 21-year-old star for buying a 33-year-old, as prestigious as it may be, is rather dubious. The second option would be to exhaust financial fair play again, with the associated risks. (…)

But from PSG it would be a new provocation and a threat to “alienate the whole world of football” if they took out the checkbook for the most expensive player in the world three years after the double coup with 402 million euros. “

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