Setien was sacked for trying to counter Messi’s nasty ego at Barcelona

Barcelona manager Quique Setien was shown the door in August, but there seems to be a lot more that made it happen besides poor results.

One of the major reasons why Barcelona have a depleted squad this summer is due to the fact that they did not make any significant summer signings to fill in for Ronald Koeman’s need. That was primarily due to the fact that the board was dealing with a total drama created by Lionel Messi, who wanted to leave the club for free.

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Messi, a few days after the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, sent the club a notice that he considered himself to be a free agent and would have liked to exercise his choice of leaving since the season has ended. However, the board forced him to stay by claiming that the free clause was only valid until June 10 and post that date, his release clause would need to be paid.

The 33-year-old in a candid interview took a dig at Josep Maria Bartomeu and ended up staying at the club. Quique Setien has now exposed the captain’s hegemony and toxic leadership in the club’s dressing room. The former Real Betis coach did mention how he was a difficult man to handle among all players and has now mentioned a straightforward instance.

According to reports, Setien was being blatantly ignored by Messi as he was trying to explain tactics to his side during a fixture against Celta Vigo at the Balaidos. Images clearly show that the Argentinian has been looking away and paying no heed to the manager’s instructions, in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw and gave Real Madrid a chance to top the La Liga standings.

When the former manager told Messi that he could leave the club if he did not like the coaching regimes, their relationship subsequently bittered and Setien, as he mentioned, had his fate decided at the club even before they were humiliated by Bayern Munich.

Do you think Messi’s behaviour was a crucial reason why the 62-year-old was shown the door?