Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has taken the initiative of making a special request to their fiercest rivals concerning their talismanic striker.<\/p>\n
Zidane has taken the onus of addressing rumors of Lionel Messi’s impending exit from Barcelona ahead of this weekend’s El Clasico rumble, with the French manager issuing a plea to the Catalans to keep the Argentine at the club with his contract running outg at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Saturday’s El Clasico encounter will be Lionel Messi’s 45th since making his senior debut in 2004 for Barcelona, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner having scored\u00a026 times in the fixture in his 17 years of service at the club although he has come short in recent years. Messi\u2019s last goal in the El Clasico was in 2017\/18, with Barcelona drawing 2-2 against the Los Blancos at the Camp Nou.<\/p>\n
The opportunity is again well nigh for Lionel Messi to get on the scoresheet against Real Madrid as the rivals are set to feature in a potential title-decider at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. In the press conference held ahead of the clash, the Barca skipper’s future was up for discussion and Zidane was asked for his views on the subject.<\/p>\n
Despite Messi yet to commit his future by signing a contract extension at Camp Nou, the French manager implored Barcelona to do whatever it takes to keep their superstar at the club.<\/p>\n
When asked about the possibility of Saturday’s El Clasico being the Argentine’s last, the Real Madrid manager said:<\/p>\n
“I don’t want this to be the last ‘Cl\u00e1sico’ for Messi.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully he stays at Barcelona. He’s good there and it’s also good for the Spanish league.<\/p>\n
Regarding his side’s chances of keeping the Barcelona stalwart at bay, Zidane said:<\/p>\n
“We know what a player Messi is. He may not be scoring goals, but we know what a player he is.<\/p>\n
“We are going to play against Barcelona. It’s true that we know what a player he is, but they are all very good. We’re going to try to stop their strengths, because there have a lot.”<\/p>\n
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