Lionel Messi lashes out at Barcelona for selling Luis Suárez

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 13, 2019 Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (R) celebrates with Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez after scoring during the UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg football match between FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.  (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)

BARCELONA, Spain— Lionel Messi criticized the exit of teammate and good friend Luis Suárez on Friday, dealing another blow to the damaged relationship between the Argentine and Barcelona’s leadership.

Messi posted a photo of himself with Suárez on Instagram with a message expressing his sadness for his friend’s departure and his anger at how the club transferred him to Atlético Madrid.

“It is going to be so strange seeing you in another shirt, and even stranger to have to play against you,” Messi wrote. “You deserved a sending-off fit for what you are: one of the most important players in club history, both for what you did for the group and individually — not the one they gave you. But it is true that at this point nothing surprises me.”

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Barcelona decided to overhaul its squad after the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month. The 33-year-old Suárez was told by incoming coach Ronald Koeman that he was no longer wanted. The club, hard hit financially by the coronavirus pandemic, also needed to reduce its expenditures on salaries for its players.

Suárez bid farewell to Barcelona’s fans in an emotional news conference on Thursday. He leaves Camp Nou as the club’s third leading scorer with 198 goals. The Uruguayan helped Barcelona win 13 titles since arriving in 2014 from Liverpool, including four Spanish league trophies and the Champions League in 2015.

Suárez forged a dynamic scoring duo with Messi over the years, and the two South Americans became neighbors and fast friends, along with their families.

“I was accepting the idea (of your departure), but not until I entered the changing room did I realize what it means,” Messi wrote. “How difficult it is going to be not sharing each day with you, both on and off the field. We will miss you very much. These have been many years of many mates, lunches, dinners … many things I won’t forget from all those days together.”

Barcelona transferred Suárez to Spanish league rival Atlético for 6 million euros ($7 million).

Messi had tried to leave the club he has been a part of for 20 years after the debacle against Bayern, but Barcelona replied that he must finish the final year of his contract.

Suárez also took Messi’s side in the dispute on Thursday when he said “I have to accept it if the club decides it is time that I go, just like the club should accept it if a player wants to leave.”

Messi, however, has already given up in trying to leave this season. He has vowed to play his hardest for the team while he remains — even if he is even more disgruntled after Suárez’s departure.

Messi’s comments are the latest run-in between him and the club’s board. Club president Josep Bartomeu has called for elections in March, in which he cannot run again, but he is also facing a censure referendum that could oust him and his board in the coming weeks.