Lionel Messi will likely miss Barcelona FC's La Liga showdown with Osasuna this Saturday due to injury. The club has denied that star man Lionel Messi has suffered a relapse in his recovery from a calf injury, but admit they are taking extra care over his rehabilitation.
A report by AS claims that there is a small chance Messi would be ready for the game and Barca would not risk his involvement. Wednesday's report also claims that the Argentinian is working alone with a physio to continue his review, which means he will still have two sessions before Barca's match with Osasuna.
Frenkie de Jong also worked apart from the main group, although Barcelona has not explained why. Three youth team players were in training: Iñaki Peña, Carles Pérez and recent debutant Ansu Fati.
If Messi does indeed miss the Osasuna clash, it is believed Barca is prepping him for the clash against Valencia, which will take place after the international break.
Meanwhile, MainOnline reports that Messi has "suffered another injury setback" and will "almost certainly" be out of Saturday's game. Barcelona is believed to have denied that Messi has sustained a new injury. There have been no other issues apart from the star's current injury, although his rehabilitation is "going slower than hoped for."
Barca without Messi is a huge blow for manager Ernesto Valverde, considering he has other issues to tend to as well, all of which involve injury issues in the attacking roster.
"We already said that we wouldn't rush any player. What we wanted to avoid was a relapse," Valverde said.
Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez are both off the field as well, resulting to the club playing in an unfamiliar front three for the match against Real Betison Sunday, with Antoine Griezmann flanked by Carles Perez and Rafinha.
Fans of Barcelona would have enjoyed seeing Griezmann take on the game in his debut at Camp Nou, as he appeared on the scoresheet twice in the 5-2 victory.
Griezmann arriving at Barca means that there is no hurry to bring Messi back, seeing that the Frenchman can perform similar roles and pave the way for more goals and chances. And yet we didn't see that level of performance last season, probably due to the fact that the Spanish club focused on Messi too much.
But it's undeniable that having Messi in Barcelona is a big deal and that his continued absence makes the club weaker.
