BARCELONA • Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman rallied behind Lionel Messi after the Argentinian star delivered a vintage performance in Sunday's 2-1 La Liga home win over Athletic Bilbao, hours after full details of the captain's lucrative contract were published in the Spanish media.
The 33-year-old hit his 650th goal for the Catalans with a free kick to put Barca in front while Antoine Griezmann struck the winner after Jordi Alba's own goal.
The day had begun with newspaper El Mundo revealing the total amount Barca had spent on Messi's last contract with the club, also declaring the cost of the deal had "ruined" Barca by causing their current financial crisis, but Koeman leapt to his star's defence.
"I don't understand how anyone could link Messi to Barca's ruin. He has spent years proving his quality and doing great things for this club, helping it win many important trophies," the Dutchman told a news conference. "Whoever published this had bad intentions and wanted to cause Barca damage...
"Without Leo, we couldn't aspire to win very much. We have known for a very long time that he is the best player in the world, he has done so much for this club and is decisive. We have to respect everything Messi has done."
Barca have threatened to sue El Mundo for publishing confidential information.
El Mundo said the deal signed by Messi in 2017 is the "largest in the history of sport".
The forward could end up collecting a maximum of €555,237,619 (S$894.5 million) before it expires on June 30 this year, if all conditions are met. With six months left of the deal to run, "the player has already earned €511,290,052, almost 92 per cent of the possible total", the report claimed.
According to the report, Messi earned €115 million just for signing the contract and among his potential bonuses is a €3,548,644 reward for winning the Champions League and €2,365,766 for winning La Liga.
La Liga president Javier Tebas described the publication of the contract as sensationalist journalism, adding that Barca were experiencing financial problems due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Second-placed Barca are 10 points adrift of leaders Atletico Madrid (50).
Diego Simeone's men still have a game in hand over their nearest challengers and they kept up their pace with a 4-2 win at Cadiz on Sunday. A double by Luis Suarez helped give the visitors their eighth straight league win.
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LIONEL MESSI'S CONTRACT BREAKDOWN
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CONTRACT EXPIRES June 2021
EARNINGS OVER FOUR YEARS €555 million (S$894.1 million)
ANNUAL €139 million
WEEKLY €2.6 million
DAILY €381,000
HOURLY €15,875
PER MINUTE €265
PER SECOND €4
REUTERS