The Argentine attacker is not yet recovered from the
thigh injury he picked up against Atletico Madrid and will miss this weekend's
Liga encounter.
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has received some
disappointing news from the treatment table in the buildup toward this
weekend's league match against Malaga as he will have to make do without the
services of Lionel Messi.
The prolific attacker sustained a thigh problem in
Wednesday's Supercopa de Espana game versus Atletico Madrid and was taken off
at half-time due to the knock.
Messi underwent further examination on Thursday,
revealing a bruising to his left thigh, and Martino has now revealed that he
will consequently miss Sunday's match against Malaga.
"We are pretty optimistic about Messi's recovery.
He's not in the squad as a precaution, because we don't want to take any risks
at this stage of the season," the Barca coach stated at a press
conference.
The 26-year-old netted twice in Barcelona's 7-0 victory
over Levante on matchday 1, but now won't be able to add to his tally at the
weekend.
New signing Neymar is likely to make the starting XI for
the first time in an official game following Messi's absence, with the Brazil
international netting once against Atletico after replacing the Argentine.
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