Ahead of their La Liga fixture against Celta Vigo scheduled to be played on Sunday, Barcelona have concerns regarding the fitness of their talisman Lionel Messi.
The 27-year-old has been suffering from discomfort in his right foot and while subsequent examinations have revealed that the Barcelona superstar is not suffering from any injury, he is bogged down by pain.
The Argentina national team captain was rested by Tata Martino for their friendly fixtures against El Salvador and Ecuador as a precautionary measure.
“If he had a bad injury he would have gone straight back to Barcelona, but it is true it is painful for him”, Messi’s management were quoted as saying by Marca.
“When he gets back they will do tests on him to evaluate his condition.”
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Explaining the extent of the forward’s discomfort, Martino, who was at the helm of Barcelona last season, said that Messi is not comfortable wearing boots, and his lack of participation in the friendlies was no more than a precautionary measure.
“There's no mystery with Messi.
“He's comfortable in trainers, but he puts on his boots and it hurts. We don't want to take any risks on Leo or anyone else.”
Barcelona will resume their La Liga campaign with a visit to the Balaidos to take on Celta Vigo, where a win would consolidate Luis Enrique’s side’s lead at the top of the table.
If Messi continues to suffer from his discomfort, his absence will be a blow for the Catalan giants as they are due to play eight games during the course of this month, which includes both legs of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
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