Lionel Messi celebrated the win that moved
Barcelona to within one point of Real Madrid
at the top of La Liga by saying he would not
leave the club for the Premier League.
Messi said after the 3-1 win over Atletico
Madrid: 'I have not laid down any conditions
for me to stay at this club and neither do I
have any intention of leaving. I have heard
stories about my father already having
spoken to Chelsea and Manchester City but it
is not true.'
Messi mysteriously started following Chelsea
on Instagram last Monday - the day he failed
to turn up for training complaining of a
stomach bug. Sources close to the dressing
room claimed coach Luis Enrique had been
upset by Messi's no-show to the point of
wanting to fine him, and it was suggested
Messi had demanded the coach be changed
at the end of the season.
But after assisting the first two goals last
night and scoring the third, Messi gave a rare
interview for the club's in-house television
channel and said: 'I hear so many things
about me. It has been claimed in the past
that I have had a bad relationship with [Pep]
Guardiola, [Samuel] Eto'o, [Zlatan]
Ibrahimovic, with Bojan [Krkic] and even that
I had got rid of a lot of people. It is not true.
And it is not good for people to look for
rivalry between me and the coach.
'I am painted as the one who runs the club
but I am just a like any other player in the
dressing room. I don't take the decisions.
And I don't decide who takes the decisions.'
Messi will be in Zurich on Monday for the
Ballon d'Or ceremony where he is expected to
lose out to Cristiano Ronaldo for the second
consecutive season. He called for unity at
Barcelona as they try to catch Carlo
Ancelotti's leaders.
He said: 'We have six months left and we
want to try to achieve some important things.
That they throw the dirt at us from the
outside is not going to stop us doing that.'
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