Barca decide not to sack Abidal after Messi row - reports

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The Frenchman’s job is safe...for now

Barcelona have reportedly decided not to fire Eric Abidal after this week’s events that saw him criticised by club captain Lionel Messi after giving an interview to Sport.

Abidal came under fire after saying “lots of players were not satisfied [with Valverde] and nor did they work a lot” which provoked an angry response from Messi on social media.

The dispute saw president Josep Maria Bartomeu schedule a meeting with Abidal on Wednesday to talk through the events, and the decision was reportedly made to stick by the 40-year-old.

Mundo Deportivo report a two-hour meeting, that also included CEO Oscar Grau, ended with Bartomeu deciding not to part ways Abidal. Both men are expected to travel to Bilbao for tonight’s Copa del Rey match.

There’s a bit more detail over at Sport, as they also report Bartomeu spoke to Messi on the phone before meeting Abidal to talk things through. Meanwhile, ESPN are reporting that Messi told Bartomeu he’s happy at the club and wants to “turn the page,”

It’s been a difficult week for the club with Messi and Abidal hogging the front pages and Ousmane Dembele suffering another serious injury, but it looks as though the club are keen to move on and put the incident behind them.

Source: barcablaugranes.com