Lionel Messi raises major doubts over Barcelona teammate, future questioned

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It’s been a difficult week for Barcelona, as their Champions League exit has seemingly raised tensions at the club despite still being on course for domestic glory.

The Catalan giants surrendered a 4-1 lead at Roma in their quarter-final tie, losing 3-0 in the Italian capital and seeing their Champions League hopes for this season slip away.

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They remain in full control of the La Liga title race and have a Copa del Rey final to consider next month too, but reports coming out of the Nou Camp don’t appear to be particularly positive.

According to Don Balon, as re-reported by The Express, Lionel Messi has raised real doubts over Paulinho’s ability to fit in at Barcelona and to have a positive impact on the team’s play.

It comes after the 29-year-old made a stunning start to life with the club, as he bagged early goals to silence the detractors who questioned the sense in the addition given he hadn’t made a great impact at Tottenham before moving to China.

However, things haven’t gone well for him in recent months, as he remains stuck on eight goals and just two assists in 43 appearances this season, and that has seemingly led to this report suggesting that Messi may well have seen enough.

There seems to be an incredible amount of pressure on the Argentine icon for both club and country, with the emphasis always on him to produce and get his side out of difficult moments.

In turn, he needs more from those around him, and with doubts seemingly growing over Paulinho’s ability to offer that, it could lead to major question marks for the Brazilian midfielder at the end of the season when the Barcelona hierarchy assess the campaign.

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