Spanish Report Claims Lionel Messi Wants Teammate's Barcelona Exit Sped Up After Copa Defeat

Lionel Messi has demanded the club let go of a Aleix Vidal after Espanyol ended the long unbeaten streak on Wednesday night, according to one Spanish report.

The loss was the Blaugrana's first since the Supercopa de Espana defeat to Real Madrid in August.

Barcelona managed to come from two goals down against Real Sociedad at the Anoeta and rallied to score four in reply.

However, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey, rivals Espanyol inflicted Barcelona's first defeat of the normal season after Oscar Melendo scored a late winner to stun the Catalans.

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Despite missing a penalty, Messi was rumoured to be enraged with the shock defeat to the extent he demanded teammate Aleix Vidal be axed, according to notorious rumours site Diario Gol.

Manager Ernesto Valverde handed Vidal only his sixth start of the season, but the 28-year-old failed to impress on the wing.

Consequently, the Spanish outlet go on to say Vidal is no longer in Valverde's future plans, but the player is attracting interest from former club Sevilla.

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Barcelona have left been short with reliable options on the right after Ousmane Dembele suffered another setback to his fitness.

Of course, Barcelona do have a chance to redeem themselves in the second leg and can take motivation from the fact they hammered Espanyol at the Camp Nou earlier in the season.