Messi and Luis Enrique nearly came to blows

The power struggle between Lionel Messi and Luis Enrique over the past week can be traced back to an altercation during training last Friday.

Messi had flown in from Argentina, where he spent his Christmas holidays, at around 15:30, in the nick of time for the 17:00 training session.

By all accounts, the bust-up was over something minor, but there was already bad blood between the star player and coach and the incident served to push Messi over the edge.

It all started when Enrique didn't award Messi a free-kick during a practice match when the Argentine was adamant that he had been fouled. They had it out on the training pitch, but that wasn't the end of it. After the match, Messi went looking for the manager to complain about the decision and things started to get heated. The pair nearly came to blows but then Neymar, who had got wind of the argument, showed up and pulled them apart, while Messi continued to voice his disgruntlement.

The incident was the catalyst for further run-ins, with Enrique riling Messi by naming him on the bench at the Anoeta - something the Argentine was not expecting at all, despite only having trained twice in the run-up to the game - and the star allegedly getting his own back with his no-show during Monday's open-doors training session.