The Argentine football legend is known to deliver great performances for his boyhood side, Barcelona. Besides, he is also not much prone to injuries as his former teammate Neymar. However, he recently suffered a minor ankle injury during the Barcelona match at the end of 2020. And for that, Barcelona’s manager believes that he needs to take a rest for some time.
The Barcelona manager believes that only the rest could make Lionel Messi fir for the first match of 2021 against Huesca. The La Liga champion Barcelona will face Huesca on 3rd January 2021 which is not even a week away. But, the manager believes that his talisman Lionel Messi still needs rest for a day or two from the regular training season.
Ronald Koeman believes Lionel Messi needs a bit of rest from his Barcelona duty
🎙 @RonaldKoeman: "The most important thing is the energy and hard work of the players when using different playing systems"
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— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 28, 2020
While talking about the injury of Lionel Messi, Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman told during the press conference this Monday that, “First he was a bit banged up in his ankle and that’s why he hasn’t trained and why he’s not ready to play tomorrow’s match.” He then also added, “That’s why we gave him two extra days off on vacation.”
The Barcelona manager said, “He will be back after the Eibar match. The doctors said a week without training would make him fit for a return after the match.” He then talked about Dembele and said, “The squad list we will give tomorrow after the training session, but he has been training with the team for the last several days. He was training well before the match with Valladolid, so in principle yes he will be in the squad tomorrow.”
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Koeman also talked about their recent clash with Eibar and said, “They are a competitive team. They try to create pressure and go on the counter and we have to be playing well as we did in our last game.” He then further added, “We have to be able to find space when the opposition creates pressure. We will have to play well; otherwise, it will be a very difficult match.”
The Barcelona manager said, “I did not see the [Messi] interview live, but I have seen it. I have always been calm with Messi and I will not be calmer because he said that he will decide at the end of the season.” He added, “We’ll see what can happen. I appreciate Messi’s words because he is a very important player for the club and for football. Anyone likes to speak well of oneself. I’m still the same. I try to move the team forward, it is a year of transition and Messi is key to this process.”