Barcelona confirm Lionel Messi quadriceps injury

Lionel Messi missed Barcelona training again on Friday as concerns grow over a quadriceps injury ahead of La Liga restarting.

Spanish radio stations Cadena Ser and Cadena Cope both reported Thursday evening that the 32-year-old was due to return to training on Friday but again he was forced to sit out the session.

The Argentine star did not train with his Blaugrana teammates on Wednesday (with the players given Thursday as a rest day) and has instead been working on an individual training programme in the club’s gym facilities, as highlighted by Diario Sport.

“Messi has a minor right quadriceps injury and trained in isolation, doing specific exercises to avoid unnecessary risks with just eight days remaining before Barca finally get back to playing matches,” read a Barcelona statement. “He should be able to rejoin his teammates in a few days’ time.”

There had been fears that the Argentine star’s fitness issue may be worse than first feared and could have come at the worst possible time, with the club set to play their final 11 rounds of league action in a condensed timeframe.

Messi is the top scorer in La Liga this campaign with 19 goals to his name (averaging one goal per 99 minutes) and is five strikes clear of Karim Benzema (14) in second place.

Luis Suarez – third on the list – is set to return after a lengthy layoff although Ousmane Dembele is not expected to return until August at the earliest.

Barcelona lead Real Madrid by two points at the league’s summit ahead of La Liga returning next week.

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“Playing behind closed doors – for us – is not much different to the games being cancelled.” – Find out who said this right here.

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