Luis Enrique wanted to punish Lionel Messi for his absence from Monday’s training session, according to Sport.
The Barcelona boss appears to have started a war with the Argentine, who was demoted to the bench for Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad, and was furious Messi missed the open doors session which was attended by thousands of children.
The report claims Enrique was not convinced that Messi’s excuse of having gastroenteritis was real and took the decision to discipline the player.
However, some senior members of the Barca squad – believed to be Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta – persuaded him to drop the issue for the good of the team and to maintain dressing room harmony.
