Madrid (AFP)

An aborted divorce with Barcelona in full reconstruction, teammates and friends on the departure, a pandemic ... The resumption of La Liga 2020-2021, scheduled this weekend without Lionel Messi, will be the strangest of the entire career of the argentinian superstar.

Will this Spanish takeover be the last for Messi, who sees his contract at Barça expire on June 30, 2021?

We don't know.

But the most bizarre, no doubt.

As La Liga leaves this weekend without its superstars Real Madrid and Barça (who benefit from a few extra days off), the Blaugrana captain reassured fans and managers by returning to the group this week to train even one day. rest, like Thursday ... after shaking the foundations of a Barça already in the midst of a revolution.

"We even saw Messi smile. He accepted the challenge of this season, and left his other concerns for later," summarized the Catalan newspaper Sport on Thursday.

A smile after the storm, which gradually dilutes the image left by the Argentine captain on August 25, with this registered letter sent to the leaders of the club to inform them of his desire to leave.

- Two weeks -

After deliberately missing Barca's first resumption meetings (PCR tests and training), Messi reversed his decision on September 4.

"We are very happy that Messi has joined this exciting project," said institutional vice-president Pau Vilanova on Friday, stressing that "obviously we must (now) take into account Messi's statements".

For his new coach, Ronald Koeman, the Argentinian "is the best. Messi, when he is in good form, is a very important player, as we have seen for many years, and I hope he will still be able to Show it to us this season, "the Dutch technician said on Friday.

"The best player in the world, you want to have him in your team, not against you. As a coach, I love the idea of ​​coaching Messi", Koeman had already said during his presentation, before the turmoil triggered by the 'Argentine.

According to the specialized press, the coach and the captain spoke to each other during the week to agree on making a clean sweep of past events and aiming for the best.

Koeman could also count on the Argentinian for Barça's first friendly against Nastic de Tarragona (Spanish D3) on Saturday at 17:00 GMT.

Not seen in an official match since the terrible 8-2 conceded in the quarter-final of the Champions League against Bayern Munich on August 14 in Lisbon, Lionel Messi will have two more weeks to regain the pace.

Like Atlético Madrid (C1), Sevilla (C3) and Elche (playoffs for accession to La Liga), Barça finished last season later than the other teams, and will therefore resume La Liga on the weekend of September 26-27 against Villareal, two weeks after the curtain rises between Eibar and Celta Vigo, this Saturday (14:00 GMT).

- A moult to complete -

After a disastrous 2019-2020 season, where Barça has not won a title for the first time since 2008, Messi has repeated that he wants "a winning project" ... but his Barça in revolution is still far from having the level to dethrone Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid from the King of Spain chair.

In the midst of a global pandemic that continues to heavily affect Spain, the Blaugrana club has yet to complete its transformation.

According to the Spanish press, Koeman has told locker room executives such as Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti that he does not count on them for next season.

Rakitic returned to Seville.

Umtiti has just returned from his quarantine after his positive coronavirus test in mid-August, and Vidal and Suarez are announced in Italy: to Inter for the first, and to Juventus for the second, who would thus leave his lifelong friend Messi to rally the eternal enemy Cristiano Ronaldo.

Whatever Barça's transfer window has in store by its closure in early October, Messi will have to forge his agreement with newcomer Miralem Pjanic, cement that with the great hope Ansu Fati, and improve that with Antoine Griezmann.

"My relationship with Messi was similar to that with Mbappé (in Blue). We couldn't find any assists and I needed a lot of time for us to understand each other on the pitch. Things with Messi will be better," assured the French world champion in an interview with RTL and M6 on Wednesday.

© 2020 AFP