Bartomeu: New era for Barca

Josep Maria Bartomeu hinted his unhappiness with Andoni Zubizarreta’s post-Real Sociedad comments but maintained a new era beckoned for Barcelona.

The former sporting director appeared to blame the President for the Catalans' transfer ban, which was recently thrown out of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the 51-year-old was keen to signal a fresh start following Sunday's 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid.

“[Zubi] did nothing wrong, but his words [after Real-Barca] were [enough of] a droplet,” he said after the game.

“We had full confidence in him and worked closely with him over the years, but now the cycle’s finished and another one begins.

“We played spectacularly. The fans were great and united, and this is very important.

“The socios supported the players from the first to last minute, and this was translated into a big win against our great rivals Atletico Madrid.

“Messi always plays with motivation, but clearly the accolade for beating the [Telmo] Zarra’s [goalscoring] record was important was him.

“Messi is playing at a high level, he and the other players are showing both ambition and effort and finally picking up results like today.

“We’re all more relaxed if the team are in good spirits and the fans are happy. All we want to see is effort from top to bottom. In the end, we were rewarded [for our approach].”

Tags Atleti Barca Josep Maria Bartomeu Lionel Messi Luis Enrique
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