FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi running with the ball during the pre-season friendly match against Gimnastic de Tarragona at Estadi Johan Cruyff at Barcelona in Spain on Saturday — Twitter 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.
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