The director of training and education, who is also involved in La Masia, Barca's youth system, apparently had the audacity to claim that the brilliant Argentine owed some of his ability to the quality of his teammates.
"Barcelona are not here only because of Messi," he said at the draw for the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, after Barca saw off Athletic Bilbao in the previous round.
"He's very important but it was the team who won. Without Neymar, Luis Suarez, [Andres] Iniesta, [Gerard] Pique and the others, he wouldn't be such a good player."
Although his comments were relatively benign, the club insisted that they "do not coincide with those of the club," in their statement.