Lionel Messi set to miss Argentina friendly vs. Spain
By Laieke Abebe
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has muscle fatigue in his hamstring and is likely not going to play against Spain as a precautionary measure.
Lionel Messi will not play in Argentina’s friendly against Spain at the Wanda Metropolitano. The Barcelona and Argentina superstar still has a hamstring problem. This knock caused him to miss the match against Italy last Friday. Therefore, Messi will sit La Roja as a precautionary measure as the AFA and Barca agreed that they shouldn’t risk Messi getting hurt even more. While Barca is fighting to win another treble, Argentina is trying to return to World Cup glory.
The international friendly between Argentina and Spain means a lot to Messi because he has played in Spain his whole career. However, his allegiance is to Argentina, but it would’ve been great to see him play against Spain in Atletico Madrid’s new stadium. Despite Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli saying he could potentially feature, it is now best that Messi sits this match.
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Messi’s status could concern matches for Barcelona too. The La Liga leaders are in action away to Sevilla on Saturday in a very big match against two really good teams. In addition to that, they play at home against Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals first leg next Wednesday. These two matches are important and Messi will be needed if the Blaugrana want to be successful. If Messi doesn’t play, it would be very tough for Barca to get good results.
Jorge Sampaoli told the media on Monday that Messi was fit and feeling good in the pre-match press conference. According to Goal, Messi didn’t feel right when he woke up leading to the decision to not play him. Sampaoli was looking forward to using his strategy and tactics with Messi in the fold. Now, Argentina will have to wait until June when they face Israel in an international friendly.
Overall, the hope is that Lionel Messi is fit to compete for Barcelona going forward. In addition to that, the AFA is hoping that Messi will be good to go as the World Cup approaches. It will be interesting to see what Ernesto Valverde does for the Sevilla match. He’ll likely have to change things if Messi can’t play in that game. Hopefully, Messi can stay healthy so he can continue to be extraordinary on the football pitch.