Paris Saint-German star and football great, Lionel Messi has been trending on social media following his brother, Matias Messi's comment about Barcelona during a viral Twitch live video on Wednesday, February 8, 2022.
Matias Messi stated that Barcelona were a relatively smaller club and that his brother made the club who they are today.
“Barcelona started to be known because of Messi, nobody knew them, only Madrid.”
He further blamed club president Joan Larporta for Messi's exit in 2021 and labelled the Spanish as a traitor.
"People in Barcelona did not support Leo. They should have done a march or something. Let Laporta leave and Messi stay. Spanish people are traitors. I'm telling you this because I want you to hear it from us, not somewhere else."
The video has gone viral as Barcelona fans have turned on Matias for putting his brother, who is dear to Barcelona fans, in a bad light.
Matias after several backlashes later apologized via his Instagram story and deleted the video from Twitch.
"I want to apologize for what I said. I was only making jokes to my son and his friends. How could I think that about a club so big as Barcelona, with their history and everything they did for my family and Leo? For us, Catalonia is our second home. I'm sorry."
Below are some reactions from Barcelona fans on social media
Yes, these are two separate things. We can't blame Leo for the things his brother said. I still think we should have treated him better and that he deserves a better ending at the club of his life.
— S ツ (@LeoMesseven) February 8, 2023
????????️| Lluis Carrasco (Joan Laporta's campaign manager): “Matias, FC Barcelona was big without Messi, but he made it bigger & bigger. What I wonder is what you would be without Barça & your brother. Thanks.”
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) February 8, 2023
Matías Messi: “People in Barcelona did not support Leo”
— Sara ???? (@SaraFCBi) February 8, 2023
Meanwhile, Leo Messi:
“These shirts are here separately because Argentina and FC Barcelona are my two loves.” ????♥️????????pic.twitter.com/WqhG0mZ2r5
Not something Messi himself would get behind I reckon. So this doesn’t help
— ???????????? ???????????????? ???? (@TheEuropeanLad) February 8, 2023
People can say what they want. If you are a Barca fan,u will see that even with messi exit and all the financial levers activated, the club still hasn't come out of it financial mess.Laporta couldn't do anything at the time as he thought he would be able to.
— achimike (@MAchilihu) February 8, 2023
As a barca fan i think we are doing really great. He will always be in heart of every barca fan but as it is said "Nothing lasts forever" .
— मिस्टर पोख्रेल ???????????????? (@pokhreldeepak17) February 8, 2023
Moving on is the way we progress and we are doing great.