Lionel Messi will not play in Barcelona’s La Liga game away to
Huesca on Saturday after being handed a rest by coach Ernesto Valverde.
The Argentine attacker was clattered by Manchester United’s
Chris Smalling and left with a bloodied nose in Barcelona’s 1-0 win at Old
Trafford in the Champions League on Wednesday and looked groggy for the rest of
the night.
Valverde admitted
afterwards that the forward was badly bruised and with the two teams to meet
again at Camp Nou in the quarter-final second leg on Tuesday, the 31-year-old
will sit out the game against LaLiga’s bottom club.
Asked in his
pre-match press conference whether that would be the case, Valverde said: “It’s
possible. It’s true that he feels good, but he took a big blow.”
“He was struggling.
He was hit by a trailer and we have to assess it.”
The squad was
announced later on Friday and Messi is not included in the 18-man list, with
Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez missing through suspension and Sergi Roberto, Ivan
Rakitic and Sergio Busquets all out with minor injuries.
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