Lionel Messi Plays For Barcelona In Pre-Season Friendly Win

Lionel Messi started in the 3-1 win over third-tier Nastic after the club confirmed he would remain as captain.

Lionel Messi made his first appearance for Barcelona since failed attempt to leave the club, playing in friendly with Gimnastic de Tarragona.

The 33-year-old Argentine Lionel Messi submitted a transfer request in August but decided to stay last week because no club would be able to afford his release clause.

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Lionel Messi started in the 3-1 win over third-tier Nastic after the club confirmed he would remain as captain.

He was replaced along with the other starters at half-time.

Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring with Antoine Griezmann and Phillipe Coutinho netting penalties.

Messi, Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer, believed he had a clause in his contract which would allow him to leave for free and did not begin pre-season training.

Barcelona and La Liga insisted that clause was no longer valid – with any club wishing to buy him required to pay a release clause of 700m euros (£624m) – and Lionel Messi returned to training after saying he would not take the club to court.

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Barca’s season starts on Sunday, 27 September with a home game against Villarreal in La Liga.

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