The manager of Barcelona FC, Gerardo Martino, has made it quite clear that he is not in any hurry at all to bring one of his superstar players Lionel Messi back into the side.
Messi hasn’t featured for Barca in the last couple of months because of his hamstring problem. However, he has been training since the last few days and is close to achieving match fitness. There were speculations that he might be making his comeback in Barca’s upcoming La Liga game against Atletico Madrid which will be played at Vicente Calderon this Saturday, but, Martino’s statements suggest that his fans might have to wait a bit longer to see him back playing.
According to Martino, he doesn’t want Messi to come back with 90% fitness and then get ruled out again. So, he will bring him back only when he is fully prepared for that.
The fact is that Barcelona hasn’t missed Messi that much. They have been playing quite well in his absence and have been securing points without having too many problems. So, there is no need to risk the 26 years old Argentinean superstar by putting him on the ground immediately.
Talking to the reporters yesterday about Messi’s comeback, Martino said, “Nothing is certain at the moment. We will assess him and see if he is feeling good about himself or not. It’s not only about getting prepared physically. We will have to take the mental thing into account as well.”
“The last thing we want is to bring him back in a hurry and then lose him for another few weeks. That would not be ideal at all.”
Barcelona has won 16 out of the 18 matches that they have played in the La Liga this season.