Lionel Messi was injured in the first half of the match that Barcelona won 2-0 to Almeria, and missed games with Celtic and Valladolid. The Argentine footballer will not be on the field and for the national football team of Argentina in the last two matches of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, against Peru and Uruguay.
Although the Catalan club announced that Messi will be back on the pitch in two weeks, in the match against Osasuna, is very probable that the Barcelona star to be unavailable for the match in Pamplona.
“I don’t think Messi will be on the field in match with Osasuna. We’ll see after this dispute when he will return,” said Martino.
Barcelona supporters received good news, however. Gerardo Martino will count in the match on October 19 on Jordi Alba and Javier Mascherano. Alba did not play since the fourth round of La Liga, when he suffered a muscle tear in the match against Sevilla, while “El Jefecito” was injured even by Busquets in the match against Real Sociedad.
Barcelona will have to spare their players as much as they can, because will play two matches in the Champions League against AC Milan. Even if the team in Serie A is also affected by injuries, the Catalans definitely want a duel more easily against the Milanese Devils, who last year defeated them at the San Siro.