Barcelona Coach Reveals If Messi Is Fit For La Liga This Weekend

FC Barcelona coach Quique Setien ensured Lionel Messi is “doing perfectly and will not have any problem” ahead of their first match in three months.

As La Liga restarts June 11 with Sevilla derby, Barcelona will resume their bid to defend their title on Saturday (June 13) with a trip to Mallorca. Second-placed Real Madrid will be in action the following day when they lock horns against Eibar at home.

Earlier Barcelona confirmed their skipper had suffered an injury while working alone in the gym instead of joining the team for training, which took place at the club’s Sant Joan Despi base Wednesday. While Messi was understood to have a muscle issue, Barca boss Stien confirmed the Argentine is doing fine and he will play the Mallorca game.

“Messi is not the only one that has not trained and felt some discomfort. It’s what has happened to everyone or practically everyone since they have been back. It is some minor tightness and we have it under control. He is doing perfectly and will not have any problem,” the former Sevilla manager added in a recent interview, as per Barca Blaugranes.

Speaking about Luis Suarez' recovery, Setien said, "He [Suarez] is better than we expected. But the question is how ready he is after so long out, and whether he is ready to start."

Messi, on Saturday, was spotted training intensively and that was a good sign ahead of Barcelona’s returning match. He continues to remain the Catalans’ key player having netted 19 goals in as many as 22 La Liga matches and he has overall scored 24 goals in 31 matches for Barcelona across all competitions.

However, if Messi aims to win yet another European Golden Boot, he needs to work harder as he trails Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski by 10 goals, while Lazio's Ciro Immobile has scored 27 Serie A goals so far this season. Even Messi’s rival, Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of him in terms of league goals. Ronaldo has scored 21 Serie A goals to Messi’s 19 La Liga goals.