Barcelona have released an official report offering an update on Lionel Messi and have confirmed that he has sustained a minor injury.
It had been suggested that any injury fears were allayed over the 32-year-old, with Sport noting that he was expected back at training with the rest of the group on Friday and wouldn’t be at risk of missing the game against Real Mallorca on June 13.
However, the Catalan giants have now released an official medical update of their own, and have confirmed that Messi has picked up a ‘minor’ muscle injury and is continuing to train individually as they look to avoid aggravating the problem with the first game back edging ever closer.
Further, it’s suggested that he will be given the green light to return to the group sessions in a ‘few days’ time’, but the medical staff will naturally be monitoring him closely as they will want to avoid the problem becoming more serious which in turn could force him to be sidelined for the restart of the campaign.
Messi has been as influential as ever so far this season, scoring 24 goals and providing 16 assists in 31 appearances, and so Barcelona fans won’t need reminding of his importance to the team and to coach Quique Setien as they look to protect their two-point lead over rivals Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
With that in mind, it makes sense that they’re not taking any chances with their talisman and will give him a chance to recover before integrating him back into the group, but naturally it’s not ideal with the season resumption so close.
Luis Suarez has been working his way back from knee surgery in January and looks to be in good shape, while Ousmane Dembele remains sidelined with an injury problem of his own.
In turn, Barcelona will be eager to have Messi available when things kick off again, with games taking place almost every three days from June 13 onwards.
—
“The motives behind Project Restart are possibly 100% financially driven rather than integrity driven.” – Which Premier League star said this? Click here to read more.
—