Former Barcelona coach Radomir Antic believes that Blaugrana superstar Lionel Messi deliberately stayed away from the action during the 1-0 Champions League defeat against Atletico Madrid due to his frustration at being played as a winger. The Argentina international was heavily criticised after running just 6.8 kilometres as Barca crashed out of Europe and Antic has likened Messis situation under Gerardo Martino to that of Rivaldo under Louis van Gaal during the 1999-2000 campaign. Van Gaal insisted on playing the Brazilian on the left wing against his will - despite his preference to be deployed centrally - leading to a strained relationship between the two. Messi did not do much running because the coach told him to play as a winger. This was Messis way of saying If you want me to play on the wing, I will do just that, Antic told Goal. It is clear that Barcelona have a major problem. How are they going to accommodate Messi, Neymar and Andres Iniesta in one team? I dont think Messi will accept playing as a winger after everything he has done for Barcelona. He will say If you want me on the wing, I will play there, but whether I will get involved in the game is another thing...
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 10:47:36 +0000