LIONEL MESSI fans have been left devastated after seeing their hero look distant and subdued during Barcelona training.
The Argentine saw his best friend Luis Suarez forced out of the club in the summer, in the aftermath of a disastrous 2019-20 campaign.
When Messi, 33, himself tried to follow, however, Barca refused – making it clear that he would have to take legal action if he was to leave his boyhood club.
So he remains at Barcelona, but things just don't look the same.
In a video that has circulated online, Messi can be seen walking away from his team-mates as they entered the training field.
And as Ronald Koeman dished out some instructions, his No10 had his head bowed, looking as if he perhaps didn't want to be there.
As the session got underway, his team-mates including Jordi Alba and Philippe Coutinho appeared to be in good spirits.
But Messi looked as if it was a struggle to conjure the energy.
The subdued star didn't go unnoticed, as sad fans flocked online to express their grief at the situation.
One wrote: "A lot of fans don’t care about how he feels, he’s drained out, he’s not right mentally after all the transfer drama, I just want the best for him he looks lonely".
And another mused: "A lot of people think Messi is just a robot with no feelings, at the end of the day, he is a human with real emotions, and regardless of the fact that he's not been performing to his standards, it seems like he feels lonely at the club rn, and disinterested as well."
To which a third replied: "He’s exhausted mentally, went through so many things that I don’t know how can he still keep up. It 100% has a major effect on his form."
Messi does at least still have his pal Suarez to chat to on the phone.
Following Atletico's 1-0 victory over Barca on Saturday night, the Uruguayan told Marca: "We talk about life, the virus, everything, but very little about football, about the goals we miss or about tactical systems."
The loss saw Barcelona fall to 13th in the table, having won just three of their opening eight games under Koeman.
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