Barca crisis to deepen with Messi, coach feud

A bust up between Lionel Messi and coach Luis Enrique and the firing of sports director Andoni Zubizarreta in the aftermath of the club's transfer ban has pushed an already tainted Barcelona board into crisis.

Talk of controversy is never far away when discussing the Catalan club that has more than its fair share of internal disputes, mainly due to the importance of the institution in the community.

Yet a similar level of unrest has not been seen since the days of president Joan Gaspart, whose mismanagement led to his resignation and elections in 2003.

Just under a year ago, president Sandro Rosell resigned after a judge decided to investigate the transfer of Neymar from Santos after the case was taken up by a fan.

He was replaced by vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who immediately accepted that the Brazilian's transfer fee was closer to ?100-million (R1.39-billion) rather than the stated ?57.1-million.

It has been a troubled year for Bartomeu, which is now coming to a head with the departure of Zubizarreta and the team's failure to convince under Luis Enrique.

Zubizarreta's record in the transfer market as sports director since 2010, when the Rosell presidency began, was generally poor.

Along with the Neymar affair, Zubizaretta was blamed last year for failing to strengthen the defence, which was plainly lacking last season when the team failed to win a major trophy.

The Fifa ban on signings for two windows for a breach of rules on the transfer of foreign under-18 players was a breaking point.

Zubizarreta's position became untenable when he told Spanish television on Sunday the president shared responsibility for the ban.

That led Barcelona to dismiss Zubizarreta the following day.

The situation at board level would have less impact if the team was not also struggling and pressure is growing on Enrique following their defeat away to Real Sociedad on Sunday.

The coach surprisingly left Messi and Neymar on the bench. His relationship with Messi appears to have broken down, which could determine the coach's future. -