Monday 12 January 2015

MESSI REFUTES TRANSFER RUMOURS

Lionel Messi: Helped Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-1

Lionel Messi declared that reports linking him with a move to either Manchester City or Chelsea were "all lies" after leading Barcelona to a convincing win over title rivals Atletico Madrid.


Stories of a rift between the talismanic forward and Barca coach Luis Enrique dominated the national and international sports media after Messi was left on the bench for the 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad last Sunday, but the 27-year-old responded with an all-action performance against Atletico.
He helped create Neymar's opener and Luis Suarez's goal before half-time, before scoring the third late on and killing off Atleti's hopes of a comeback after Mario Mandzukic's penalty - which Messi had conceded after tripping Jesus Gamez.
After the game, Messi reaffirmed his commitment to the Catalan giants and insisted he had no plans to move to another club.
"I'm tired of all the things that people have been saying," Messi told Barca's official television channel, quoted in AS.
"People make it out as if I run the club and that's not how it is. I don't ask anyone to make decisions.
"I have no intentions of leaving for any team, not Chelsea nor Manchester City. Everything that has been said is lies and I want people to know that, everything that has been said is false.
"I have heard people say everything possible, that I got on badly with a lot of players and I never denied it because people have always said that I had a fall out with (Pep) Guardiola, Bojan, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, etc, but I didn't say anything like that, I never would.
"People say these things because they want to cause us harm, they throw s*** at us, and the attacks are not coming from Madrid."
Messi also reflected on a first win in seven meetings with Atletico, who sealed last season's Primera Division title on their last visit to the Nou Camp.
"We knew that it was going to be a very difficult game and that it would define the future of our season," added Messi.
"Atletico have made things difficult for us since (Diego) Simeone arrived but we went straight for them from the start. They are a very difficult team to play against, they have great players who run their socks off and create good chances, but we controlled them."
Messi also insisted referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco was wrong to award Atletico a spot-kick for his challenge on Gamez.
"It wasn't a penalty but that was the first time they had got in our area."
The four-time Ballon d'Or winner also admitted his chances of picking up the prestigious award for a fifth time at Monday's ceremony in Zurich were slim.
"It's difficult for me to win the Ballon d'Or," conceded Messi, who is one of the three finalists along with Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
"Whoever wins it will deserve it. Cristiano has scored a lot of goals and he won the Champions League, and Neuer won the World Cup."

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