Guardiola clarified that Messi’s inclusion in the Copa del Rey match was due to his desire to play, despite returning from Christmas holidays on 2nd January.
It was initially believed that Messi will sit out the match after contracting a flu, but Guardiola surprised everyone as the Argentine captain started the game on the bench.
The ‘flea’ was introduced on the pitch to a standing ovation on the hour mark, and he took little time to sparkle his magic, scoring his first in the 72nd minute, before piling more misery in added time.
Messi’s late brace against an out of sorts Osasuna side gave La Blaugrana a commanding 4-0 win at the Camp Nou. Former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 captain, Cesc Fabregas, scored the other two goals for the Spanish giants.
In the post-match conference, Josep Guardiola revealed that he initially omitted the diminutive striker from his match-day squad. However, the manager had to include the reigning Ballon d’Or winner on his insistence, as Messi wanted to take part in their
first competitive match of the calendar year.
"Messi was feeling unwell this morning, he had stomach ache and some fever, so we sent him home," Guardiola told reporters at a post-match news conference.”
"I told him to come and watch the match and if he felt fine, he would play. He called me three hours before the game and told me he wanted to play, so I put him on the bench,” the 40-year old stated.
Guardiola hailed Messi’s impact on the result card, stating that he helped them finish off the tie which was still very much open with 30 minutes yet to be played.
"The tie was not over, we were having a good match and I decided to let him play 30 minutes and you know the rest.
"After a break it is never easy to play, but we got off to a great start. We told Messi to warm up in order to warm the crowd up. We had a superb match."
With a potential quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid all but secured, Guardiola warned his team against complacency.
The two-time UEFA Champions League winning manager stated that anything can happen in the second leg scheduled to be played on January 12, and they have to ensure passage to the next round.
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