Messi plays for Barca in pre-season friendly win
Monday, 14 September 2020
Lionel Messi made his first appearance for Barcelona since his failed attempt to leave the club, playing in their friendly with Gimnastic de Tarragona, reports https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/.
The 33-year-old Argentine submitted a transfer request in August but decided to stay last week because no club would be able to afford his release clause.
Messi started in the 3-1 win over third-tier Nastic after the club confirmed he would remain as captain.
He was replaced along with the other starters at half-time. OusmaneDembele opened the scoring with Antoine Griezmann and PhillipeCoutinho netting penalties.
Messi, Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer, believed he had a clause in his contract which would allow him to leave for free and did not begin pre-season training.