It is yet not cleared whether Messi will be a part of Barcelona for the coming showdown against Becks’ PSG ahead of its second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Messi has already missed Saturday’s Spanish league match against Mallorca due to a hamstring he got during 2-2- draw last week. Earlier, he was expected to recover by Wednesday, but there is no clear news from either Barca or Messi about whether he would be a part of the team or not. Notably, Barca won Saturday match with a crushing 5-0 margin without Messi; hence there is no point in assuming they can’t perform without Argentinian. Though, he participated in the training on Sunday in front of bunch of media personnel and even on Monday he was active in training sessions, yet Camp Nou club has kept his cards hidden until final match moments come in. If Messi does not play this match, Coach Tito Vilanova would surely like to repeat his squad that crushed Mallorca on Saturday; hence Fabregas is more likely to play on ‘False Nine’ position where he has been successful until now. Fabregas told about his new position, “I feel very comfortable playing as a false striker, but that position is filled by the best player in the world. I am still a midfielder.”
As far PSG is concerned, its coach Carlo Ancelotti has already made it cleared that former English captain will be a part of second leg after having a good last week. Coach is likely to play with center backs Alex and Thiago Silva despite their respective injuries. Though, Silva told about his fitness concerns as, “I feel fine. I’m ready to play. I have no problem. I finished the first leg with a little problem with my knee but I have rested it.”
Even Paris Saint-Germain director of football Leonardo praises Barcelona and said, “OK, so we’re talking about Barcelona, a team which has almost never lost in the past four years.. Barcelona is the best team in the world … but statistics are made to be beaten.”
Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez similarly remembered Messi’s last week performance and said, “I feel bad about it, because we went 2-1 up practically in the 90th minute and then they equalized in the very last move of the match. It’s a pity about the injuries, both Mascherano and Leo. We’ll see how Leo is, but it looks like Mascherano is out for a month or a month and a half.”