After Lionel Messi responded furiously to public comments former FC Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal made about the team last year, the Frenchman has now revealed that he and the Argentine have "exchanged messages".
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In February 2020, Abidal seemed to infuriate Messi when he publicly suggested that the Barcelona players were not giving everything they could for Ernesto Valverde, who had been sacked shortly before.
The Argentine later stated that he felt attacked by Abidal's remarks, which seemed to strengthen the narrative for some that he and his teammates control the decisions the club makes.
This saga was interesting to many as Abidal and Messi were once both part of an incredibly successful Barcelona side, one coached by current Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, and many wondered if there is still a relationship between the two.
Now, speaking about the incident more than a year later, the ex-Barca board member defended the comments he made, saying he does not feel it is necessary to "fix" the situation as he says nothing has changed from his standpoint.
"I think I was correct," he told The Daily Telegraph.
"They needed to train harder, in my opinion. In my time with Guardiola it was, 'You want the best? OK, you have to train like the best. You will win everything, only if you do the job during the week.'
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"This is what I said. I never said the players wanted to get rid of the coach.
"Messi spoke to me personally as well. We had a strong conversation, but I can accept it. No problem because you have to be transparent.
"I was very comfortable because he was the only player who talked to me like this, the only one. I respect that.
"I also understand Messi is the captain and he wanted to defend the squad, but I never said that Messi told me to put the coach out. Never.
"I don't have to fix anything with Messi, our relationship has not changed from my point of view. From his point of view, I don't know, but, for me, the situation is over.
"We have exchanged many messages and he knows what I think. I didn't want to turn a small situation into a global situation and put the whole club in trouble."
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Abidal left Barcelona following the team's now-infamous 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League last season.
