‘Messi not happy on the wing’

Former Barcelona boss Radomir Antic believes that Lionel Messi is frustrated with Tata Martino.

The Argentine superstar was pilloried last week after only running 7km in Barca’s 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid.

But the Croatian tactician, who was in charge at Cam Nou in 2003, believes that the Ballon d’Or winner was annoyed about being deployed on the wing by the Coach.

“Messi did not do much running because the Coach told him to play as a winger. This was Messi's way of saying 'If you want me to play on the wing, I will do just that'," Antic told Goal.com.

“It is clear that Barcelona have a major problem. How are they going to accommodate Messi, Neymar and Andres Iniesta in one team? 

“I don't think Messi will accept playing as a winger after everything he has done for Barcelona. He will say 'If you want me on the wing, I will play there, but whether I will get involved in the game is another thing…

Antic also admitted his surprise at Cristian Tello’s limited playing time this season under Martino.

“We are all talking about Messi, Neymar and Iniesta, but we forget one of the revelations of last season -Tello.

“He offers something that Alexis Sanchez, Pedro and the others don't have and brings a lot to the team.

“And then there's another problem and that's that good players don't always make up a good team. I think this is Barcelona's problem at the moment.”

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