Spanish football morning headlines from January 3rd.
The psychologist that Messi never visited
Lionel Messi has revealed that he realises he should see a psychologist, but never has. Marca have looked into who that psychologist could be.
“I should have gone to the psychologist but I never went,” he told Jodi Evole in a recent interview. “Why? I don’t know. It’s hard for me to take that step despite knowing that I need to. I’m a person that keeps everything to myself and don’t share it, so I never took that step.”
They ascertain that the woman Messi should have seen but never did was Imma Puig, Barcelona’s psychologist for the past 15 seasons. She treated Andres Iniesta, as well as other Barcelona players, when he entered phases of depression.
Read more here.
Hazard finding life difficult in Madrid
Real Madrid continued their resurgence last night at Valdebebas, beating a revitalised Celta Vigo 2-0 to remain in the hunt for the league title.
The dynamic duo of Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez were pivotal to Los Blancos’ success, with both recording a goal and an assist for each other. Their emergence, according to Diario AS, has also applied pressure on Eden Hazard in terms of the Belgian finding a route into the Madrid starting XI.
The pair are humble, and do so much work defensively that they’re a coaches’ dream. Madrid is a winning machine, more given to the moment and the future than what a player may have done in the past. Hazard faces an uphill battle to break into Zinedine Zidane‘s ideal XI.
Read more here.
Strong rejection of Neymar’s return to Barcelona
Neymar, a fan favourite at Camp Nou during his time there, has been linked with a return to Barcelona almost since the moment he left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
It’s a prospect that seems to become less likely with each passing year, however, and a recent report in Mundo Deportivo has underlined that there isn’t real appetite from within the club to make the deal happen.
In a survey of Barcelona socios, 50.5% of those asked said they wouldn’t sign the Brazilian, 24.5% would accept the deal if it was economically sound and the coaching staff wanted him while just 5.5% think he’s worth pursuing at any price.
Read more here.