The role of Instagram in the soap opera of Spanish football
Posted Friday, February 07, 2020 by Thesun.co.uk
More and more footballers are using Instagram to connect with their fans and this means there are more and more storylines being generated by the social network.
The most recent example is that of Lionel Messi, who challenged Eric Abidal with a post, but there are many others.
Here, we look at various examples where an Instagram post provoked some drama.
Messi vs Abidal
After an interview with Abidal was published on Sport, in which the Barcelona director suggested the players hadn't been working hard enough, Messi responded and criticised the Frenchman.
"I think that when talking about players, names should be given," he wrote on an Instagram story, along with a
"Because if not then we are tarred with comments that are said and are not true."
Se queda
In the summer of 2017, the rumours of Neymar potentially leaving Barcelona were growing.
Gerard Pique wrote "se queda" - "he's staying", in English - on Twitter, but Instagram was involved as well.
A few weeks after the player's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, he met up with Messi and Luis Suarez and the Argentine took to Instagram.
"He's back," Messi wrote, tagging Pique.
This was interpreted in many different ways.
Griezmann's throne
After Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup in 2018, Antoine Griezmann shared an image depicting Sergio Ramos placing a crown on the Frenchman's head.That sparked quite a backlash.
Areola's photo with Mbappe
Alphonse Areola went back to Paris just weeks after moving from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid and he shared a smiley photo of him with his former teammates.However, that didn't go down well as his new team had been beaten 3-0.
Kevin Roldan's photo
After Real Madrid lost a derby to Atletico Madrid on February 7, 2015, some players went out to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo's birthday, something that had been planned in advance.
Given the derby humiliation, though, some fans were unhappy that the players were out partying and the festivities were made very public when Colombian singer shared a photo of himself next to James Rodriguez and Ronaldo.
When Barcelona went on to win the treble that year, Gerard Pique joked that it had all started with Roldan.
Zlatan's middle finger
Zlatan Ibrahimovic never shies away from controversy and, seemingly in response to his statue being damaged, he shared a photo of a lion raising a middle finger.
Dani Alves' wig
Following Barcelona's elimination against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2015/16 Champions League, Dani Alves tried to lift spirits with a strange Instagram video in which he was wearing a wig.
"I don't know how to live any other way," he wrote, although the reception was mixed.
These are just some of the examples and there are many more.
But one thing is clear and that's that Instagram has produced some of the biggest talking points in the world of football over these past few years.
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