Back in January, it looked like Barcelona were on the verge of imploding as Lionel Messi and manager Luis Enrique were at loggerheads.
But the tension has definitely eased as the club turn their form around to park any notions of major tensions between the pair at present.
It seems, captain Xavi Hernandez played a major role in bringing Messi and Enrique to a "rapprochement" according to Off The Ball's European football correspondent Graham Hunter, who joined us on the line before Barca's Champions League second leg against Manchester City,
"Xavi, as captain, intervened. Xavi brought the two sides together and said to Luis Enrique 'give him some slack. He's special and we need him. You're the boss, you need to lead. But rather than fining him or dropping him, what we need here is a rapprochement,'" said Graham.
Lionel Messi (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
"He then went to Messi and said 'listen, I'm here as captain. This isn't the way to do it. The manager has the right to choose who he wants'. There was a getting together. I personally find it hard to imagine a situation where Luis Enrique and Messi are close or have a massive understanding of each other's ways and means. But what they are definitely focused on and unified about is winning."
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