Lionel Messi has criticised Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal for saying players were not working hard under former coach Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde was sacked in January and replaced by Quique Setien.

Abidal, a former team-mate of Messi, made the comments in an interview with Spanish newspaper Diario Sport.

But Messi responded by saying that when you talk about players, you have to give names because if not, it gives air to things which are not true.

In the newspaper interview, Abidal said: "Many players weren't satisfied or working hard and there was also an internal communication problem.

[Source: BBC]