Report: Barcelona's Lionel Messi 'Happy to Turn the Page' After Eric Abidal Spat

Lionel Messi is reportedly ready to move on from his spat with sporting director Eric Abidal after discussions with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

According to Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden of ESPN FC, Bartomeu has spoken three times on the phone with the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, who is "happy to turn the page on the incident" and make peace with Abidal.

Messi sent Barca into crisis on Tuesday when he responded angrily to comments from Abidal, his former team-mate, which appeared to place some of the blame on the Blaugrana players for the recent sacking of manager Ernesto Valverde:

Given the Argentinian is arguably the most important person at the Camp Nou, and the fact that he has a clause in his contract that could see him leave for free at the end of the season, any situation that makes him unhappy is a potential disaster for the Catalan giants.

But Bartomeu's peace-keeping mission appears to have cleared the air, at least for now.

Per Llorens and Marsden, the Barca president also had a two-hour meeting with Abidal and CEO Oscar Grau on Wednesday in a bid to smooth things over.

Barca have enough problems on the pitch to be creating them off it.

Valverde's successor, Quique Setien, has not had the easiest start to life at the Camp Nou. A 2-0 defeat to Valencia in January has seen the defending champions drop three points back from a relentless-looking Real Madrid in the La Liga standings:

Meanwhile, a poor transfer window and a fresh swathe of injuries—Ousmane Dembele has joined Luis Suarez on the treatment table—has shorn Setien's squad of adequate depth.

If Barca are going to have any chance of competing on three fronts until the end of the season, they will need Messi at his best and with no distractions.

The Blaugarana cannot afford to slip up in key fixtures in the coming weeks, starting with Thursday's Copa del Rey quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao.

That is followed by La Liga matches against Real Betis, Getafe and Eibar before a crucial week when they visit Napoli for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie and go to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second Clasico of the season.