Lionel Messi And Barcelona Slammed For Sending Pedri, 17, To Speak To Media After Atletico Madrid Defeat

Lionel Messi and Barcelona were slammed by fans for sending 17-year-old Pedri to speak to the media following their defeat to Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona lost their third La Liga game of the season after Atletico Madrid beat them 1-0 on Saturday.

Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal on the stroke of half-time with Messi and Co failing to get going.

The Catalan giants are now NINE points adrift of Atletico Madrid who sit at the top of the table alongside Real Sociedad.

Supporters were upset with Barcelona's underwhelming performance, but they were furious with the club's decision to send out Pedri to complete media obligations following their loss.

The Spanish youngster, who made his debut in September, fulfilled the team's post-match interview, which didn't go down too well on social media.

One Twitter user wrote: "Messi is the Barcelona captain but it's Pedri doing the interviews. State of this club man."

A second tweeted: "17-year-old Pedri was sent out to do post-match interview, tells you a lot about Messi as a captain."

A third added: "No captain, no veteran, but 17yo Pedri is doing the post-match interview of Barca after an important loss. What a shame."

Speaking to reporters, Pedri said: "We weren't very successful in front of goal, as is happening in recent games, and the goal in the 45th minute hurt us.

"We knew this could happen to us, we have to keep improving.

"La Liga is still long and I think we can compete."

Barcelona return to action in midweek when they face Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, before resuming their faltering league campaign at home to Osasuna.