Barcelona star, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296, had an injury scare and his boss, Tito Vilanova, defended his decision of playing him against Benfica in the Champions League last night.
It was a stalemate at the Camp Nou last night as the game finished 0-0. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 star, Messi, was benched for much of the match but came on to play with just half an hour left to play and later sustained a blow to his knee.
Reports now suggest that it was just a knock on the knee and nothing serious.
However, some suggested that Vilanova played the Argentine since he wanted him to break Gerd Muller’s record of scoring 85 goals in a single calendar year.
The tactician scoffed at the insinuations and said that only others are thinking about that.
“Muller’s record? Everyone but Messi talks about that.”
“Messi playing 30 minutes was talked through; it was part of his physical training programme. You can also get injured in training.”
Basically, the coach insisted on his decision and said that he would do it again, given the chance.
The Spaniard justified his inclusion of the player for the simple reason that it was a good practice for Messi and that he also loves playing every single game.
“I gave him the last 30 minutes because it was a good workout and he loves competing. I would do it again.”
The 44-year-old then remarked on the condition of his star player and revealed that Messi was worried about the injury.
“Messi was a bit worried, which is normal when you don’t know what it is. After the first tests by the doctors, he was calm.”
Barcelona fielded a side that consisted of young and fringe players for last night’s encounter with the Portuguese side. The Catalan boss wanted to see how the youngsters would react to the big occasion.
“We had to see how they reacted. You have to put these players in there, to see how they react at Camp Nou.”
La Blaugrana already advanced to the knockout stages before last night’s encounter with Benfica.
Now that they have secured their position in the last-16 of Europe’s most prestigious competition, the Catalans will now focus their attention on the Primera Division and hope to maintain their 11-point lead over their arch-rivals, Real Madrid.
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