Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique will join Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde in the team’s pre-match press conference ahead of the Copa del Rey Final against Valencia on Saturday as the club close ranks after the recent Champions League collapse at Anfield.
Messi, club captain since the departure of Andres Iniesta last summer, has not given a press conference for Barcelona since May 5, 2015.
That was ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, which Barca won 3-0 at Camp Nou. And four years later, the Argentine will address the media again.
The decision to put up Messi and also Pique, one of the leaders in the dressing room, is no coincidence as Barca seek to send a message of unity ahead of the Copa final at the Benito Villamarin.
“I want to value someone who discreetly, with respect and intelligence, is managing our team and the progressive incorporation of new values. I am referring to Ernesto Valverde, in whom we fully trust,” Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said of the under-fire coach on Thursday.
And in an interview published in El Pais the same day, Pique was asked about his coach’s future and said: “It is not my job [to decide] because Valverde is my boss and he decides if he plays me or not.
Since that last press conference, Messi has...
- Scored 197 goals for Barcelona
- Provided 77 assists
- Finished as La Liga's top goalscorer three times
- Won 13 trophies
- Won the Ballon d'Or
“But what I can talk to you about is the excellent management he has with the group in these two years, how he has helped us to improve on a tactical level and and the titles we have won, which we hope to expand on in the Copa final.”
And he added: “Of course we can play better. Always! And of course Anfield hurt a lot. But I think we would always take it if we were offered winning La Liga and perhaps the Copa.”
Pique, alongside Messi, will be charged with sending out more positive messages on Friday as the two address the media, with Barca closing ranks ahead of Saturday’s game.
Meanwhile, Barca’s fans have also prepared a special tifo for the game in Seville, which will read: “Tots units: som-hi” (All together, let’s go).
You can follow the press conference on Standard Sport in our live blog from 6pm BST.
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