Cast9ja:
Lionel Messi
told the club’s supporters not to
jeer his teammate, Philippe
Coutinho.
Messi was the man of the moment
in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over
Premier League contenders,
Liverpool on Wednesday.
The Argentine scored twice in the
Catalans’ win over Liverpool in
the first leg of Champions League
semi final.
The victory puts Barca in a
brilliant position ahead of the
second leg at Anfield. While Messi’s first goal was a
simple tap-in after the ball came
down off the bar and into his path,
his second was a moment of
genius as he curled the ball in
from a free-kick some 35 yards.
The Argentina captain celebrated
wildly with his team-mates after
the goals.
However, after his first, he was
seen gesturing something with his
hands to the fans. Spanish publication AS, reports
that Messi was telling supporters
not to jeer Coutinho. Coutinho, a former Liverpool
midfielder, was booed off when
he was substituted.
The player has struggled for form
ever since his £142million
transfer to Barcelona, but was
given the nod to start against
Liverpool. After failing to make an impact,
he was then swapped with Nelson
Semedo and the newspaper
reports that Messi pleaded with
the fans to take it easy with the
Brazilian.
Speaking about Coutinho’s
performance, Messi told
reporters, “This is a time when
we have to be more united than
ever, both as players and fans.
“This is something we have to
achieve together and it is not the
moment to criticise anybody.
“It is ugly to see [the crowd]
treat a team-mate like that.”
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