Lionel Messi set to miss Barcelona match against Real Sociedad

Messi was subbed out in Barcelona’s last match against Granada as a precaution.

Barcelona receive a huge blow ahead of their Spanish Supercup match against Real Sociedad as Lionel Messi is set to be sidelined due to an injury.

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The Argentine did not take part in the team’s training sessions and all signs point to the player being unavailable as the club do not want to take a risk with him.

Messi is coming off one of his best games of the season after scoring a brace in the team’s 4-0 over Granada. However, he was taken out of the game early in the second half.

At first glance, his substitution appeared to nothing more than manager Ronald Koeman giving him a rest for the Real Sociedad game.

But images from the game showed Messi favoring his hamstring and the club later confirmed that he came out of the match with “minor issues.”

Those issues apparently were not as minor as first thought as they were enough to keep him out of the last training session before the game.

This is not the first injury scare for Messi as he missed the team’s final match of the calendar year against Eibar because of an ankle injury. No injury comes at a good time but particularly, even more, considering his recent run of form.

Given his improved performances since the start of the new year, he is going to be a significant absence for the club. In all likelihood, the SuperCup presented itself as the best opportunity for Barcelona to win a trophy.

But if they want to have a shot at competing for La Liga and the Champions League, they cannot afford to risk playing Messi and making his injury worse.