Lionel Messi's relationship with Barcelona is unaffected by comments made by the legendary forward's brother, according to club president Joan Laporta.
Matias Messi suggested in a question and answer session on streaming platform Twitch that "no one knew" Barca prior to his younger sibling's trophy-laden spell at Camp Nou.
The 40-year-old also said he would make sure to "kick out Laporta" as part of a "good cleaning" in the boardroom if his brother ever returned to the Catalan heavyweights.
He posted an apology on his Instagram account on Wednesday, stating he "was just joking with my son and friends", but the comments did not go down well at Barca.
However, speaking at a press conference on Thursday to discuss Barca's latest accounts, Laporta insisted those remarks will not impact Messi's status at the club.
"I take away the importance of anything said by his brother," Laporta said. "He has since apologised. I don't think about it any more.
"It doesn't affect the relationship [between Messi and Barcelona] at all.
"I don't want to comment on a player from another team any further out of respect.
"Leo Messi is forever part of Barcelona and we are proud of that. He is the best in the world and the best in history."
Messi scored a club record 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barcelona across 17 seasons as a first-team player, during which time he won 35 trophies.
The Argentina international departed for Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021 and his famed number 10 shirt has since been inherited by fellow academy player Ansu Fati.
Fati has been linked with a move away from Barca in recent weeks, with Manchester United reportedly interested, but Laporta ruled out an exit in the next transfer window.
"Right now we are not considering it," he said. "I cannot predict the future, but Ansu Fati is a player with whom we have great hopes.
"It all depends on whether he remains useful for the club and for [head coach] Xavi. He has a lot of expectations on him and we are not willing to sell the player at this time.
"We have no news that the player wants to leave, and we will continue to do what suits the club."
Laporta also confirmed Ousmane Dembele is not for sale, while captain Sergio Busquets's future beyond the end of this season when his contract expires is still unknown.
Barcelona, who are eight points clear of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga, are back in action on Sunday with a trip to Villarreal.
Edwards urges Luton Town to ignore scrutiny on relegation battle
Rob Edwards is keen for Luton Town to ignore the scrutiny surrounding them in the relegation battle as they prepare for another big game against Wolves.
The Hatters sit one point from safety in the relegation zone after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford.
While Nottingham Forest also lost last weekend, being beaten 2-0 by Everton, Burnley beat Sheffield United to move them two points behind Luton.
Asked how he is handling the pressure of the relegation battle with only four games left, Edwards said: “The stakes are high already, we all know what it means and it's really important to everyone that's in this at the moment, a number of clubs that are still fighting to try and avoid it and be in the league next season, it's so important.
“Everyone wants to try and stoke the fire I think. We've got a title race on at one end and obviously, there's a relegation battle we're involved in. It's exciting, it's good that we're in the fight, and we've got a chance to get out of it, but really, all I am concerned about right now is our performance tomorrow.”
Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run
Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.
After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.
Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.
Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.
He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!
"Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.
"We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."
Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.
The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”
The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.
While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.
CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter
Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN
Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.
Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.
Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 56.4%
CF Montreal – 18.6%
Draw – 25%
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