MADRID: Lionel Messi is likely to miss out again when Barcelona visit newly-promoted Osasuna in the El Sadar Stadium on Saturday.
The Argentinian is putting the final touches to his recovery from a calf injury, and although he has trained alongside the rest of his teammates for over a week, coach Ernesto Valverde probably won’t risk his star player.
Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele are also out through injury, although with Dembele being talked of as a possible makeweight in any deal to bring Neymar Jr back to the club, it’s possible he wouldn’t have started even if fit.
Midfielder Ivan Rakitic is in a similar situation, and spent the entire 90 minutes of last weekend’s 5-2 win at home to Real Betis on the bench amid talk of him also leaving the club before Monday night’s transfer deadline. Valverde fielded Frenkie De Jong, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto in midfield last week, but against rivals who are likely to be more physical than Betis, he could be tempted to swap out Sergi Roberto for Arturo Vidal.
(Agencies)
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