BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Lionel Messi scored his first preseason goals for Barcelona when coach Ronald Koeman left Luis Suárez and Arturo Vidal from his team for a friendly Wednesday.
Messi scored two goals and scored one more in the 3–1 win over Girona, barcelona’s moment since Koeman took over as a manager.
The goals were also Messi’s first since his failed attempt to leave the club this pre-season, after a season without trophies and the humiliating 8–2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals. Messi told the club he was looking for after leaving, only to replace his brain after Barcelona refused to let him go.
Barcelona posted on Twitter a photo of Messi and Koeman shaking hands when the star forward replaced along with the maximum of his teammates with one hour remaining, it seemed destined to deliver a message of unity between the player and the coach in the middle. from one of the most turbulent periods in the recent history of the club.
Barcelona seeks to locate new houses for Suarez and Vidal, two players who, at 33, do have compatibility with Koeman’s plans to rejuvenate the team.
Spanish media reported that Vidal is close to moving to Inter Milan, but Juventus’ interest in Suarez seems to have cooled in recent days.
Koeman even left the door open to retain Suarez when the coach spoke after Wednesday’s victory.
“If Suarez ends up staying, he will be treated like any other member of this team,” Koeman said. “I spoke to him this morning and we still don’t know if he’s leaving or staying. “
Girona had little resistance to barcelona’s attack, formed through the new signing Francisco Trinco, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and Messi.
Messi’s perfectly positioned pass allowed Trinco to transparent the Portuguese striker to position the ball to Coutinho, who only had to pick him up in the first game of the 20th minute.
Messi doubled the lead to the 45 with a shot from outside the area that went vertically.
Samuel Saiz put Girona on the scoreboard after halftime before Messi got his double with a shot that deviateed a defense to lie to The Girona goalkeeper.
Koeman said he was pleased with his young plos angelesyers, especially the American Konrad of the Angels Fuente, 19, who took over four days after making his friendly debut against the weekend of Tarragona los angelesst.
“If I have a young player to distract me, I’ll move on to Konrad,” Koeman said. “I am satisfied with him, as I am with Riqui (Puig) and (Pedro)” Pedri “(Gonzez). “
Koeman will have a warm-up adjustment against Elche on Saturday before Barcelona starts the Spanish league season against Villarreal on 27 September.
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