Lionel Messi

BARCELONA — Barcelona beat second division Gimnastic de Tarragona 3-1 in a preseason friendly on Saturday, with Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele each making encouraging returns by scoring in Ronald Koeman's first game in charge.

Lionel Messi wore the captain's armband in his first match since he opted to abandon his plans to leave Barca, although Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal were left out of the squad as the club is still trying to offload both players.

BARCELONA — Lionel Messi looked back in his comfort zone during training with his Barcelona teammates on Wednesday in preparation for the new LaLiga season as he continued to move on from his aborted attempt to leave the club last month.

Barca's all-time top scorer was seen smiling as he and his fellow players worked through persistent rain at the club's Joan Gamper training complex under the orders of new coach Ronald Koeman.

With Lionel Messi's aborted bid to leave Barcelona still raw, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu may be counting his days after a campaign group announced they were racking up signatures in a bid to force a vote of no-confidence in him.

BARCELONA — Barcelona fans breathed a sigh of relief on Friday, after Lionel Messi ended weeks of speculation by announcing he had decided, with reluctance, to stay at the club.

Messi, who made a shock announcement that he wanted to leave his lifelong club last month, said he would see out his contract until 2021 in order to avoid taking Barca to court.

BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messi ended speculation about his future at Barcelona by announcing on Friday that he would reluctantly stay for another season rather than tackle his career-long club in court.

A week after saying he wanted to leave the Liga side, and with a contract row still raging, the 33-year-old six-time player of the year gave the news Barca fans were hoping for.

In doing so, however, the Argentine forward took a big swipe at the club's hierarchy.

 WORLD EXCLUSIVE