Barcelona News Roundup: Presidential candidate issues Lionel Messi ultimatum, Ronald Koeman accuses Riqui Puig of leaking information and more: 14 December 2020
A below-par Barcelona managed to get the better of Levante last night thanks to a late strike from Lionel Messi. There's an air of unease around the club because of the recent results. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 14 December 2020.
Neymar could miss out on clash with Barcelona
Barcelona will take on Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. According to reports, Paris Saint-Germain's main man Neymar Jr. will be in a race against time to be fit to play against his former club.
There were doubts as to whether Neymar had sustained an ankle fracture against Olympique Lyon but now Marca has reported that it is not the case. Lyon's Thiago Mendes was sent off for a reckless challenge on the Brazilian and the player is worried if he has picked up a ligament tear.
The first leg of the Round of 16 will take place in late January and Neymar's availability will be a huge talking point in the build up to the game.
Koeman accuses Riqui Puig of leaking information
Ronald Koeman had reportedly told Barcelona youngster Riqui Puig that he'll need to go out on loan after taking over as the manager. However, the media picked up on this quite fast and Koeman believes that it is the player himself that broke the news to them.
According to El Pais, Ronald Koeman confronted Puig in front of the entire dressing room on the same right before the Gamper trophy. The report further claims that the Barcelona dressing room is divided on how Koeman dealt with the situation.
While some players were happy about how Koeman was intolerant to negativity, some players haven't been on the same page as the manager after Koeman had told Suarez via a phonecall that he has no place in his plans.
Several reports of unrest in the Barcelona's dressing room has surfaced recently. It has been claimed that the players want to return to their 4-3-3 formation while Koeman is stubborn about sticking to his 4-2-3-1 system.
Barcelona presidential candidate says Messi has to take a paycut or leave
Different Barcelona presidential candidates have different outlooks on the Messi situation. While most of them have promised to make sure that Lionel Messi will stay at the club beyond the summer, Emili Rousard has said that the Argentine will need to leave if he doesn't take a paycut.
He told Goal,
"We'll have to sit down with Messi and ask him to take a salary cut. Right now, with things as they are, it's unsustainable. We'll ask him to make the sacrifice. If there's no agreement, then Messi will leave. Messi has written the most brilliant pages in the club's history.
We have to honor our legends, but the reality is what it is. I believe that things have to be said as they are. We can't fool our members. We'll make every effort to ensure he stays, but always with the interests of the club first."