Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde has said Lionel Messi will not be risked for Barca’s opener against Athletic Bilbao on Friday.
The Argentine has been excluded from the squad list after injuring himself in training last week.
He missed the club’s tour of the United States and has not played in any of Barca’s five preseason friendlies.
Ernesto has now said he will not risk any player, and Messi is not exempted.
His words, “We don’t take risks with any players, so especially not with Leo,”
“He’s still not trained with the team and doing recovery work is not the same as working with the team. We’re going to wait a little bit and see, but he’s recovering well.”
On Neymar, “I’m not involved in all these issues,”
“I focus on the team and the players I have. I am happy with my squad. I have respect for other players and for other teams. He’s a PSG player and we will see, but I can’t tell you anything about that.”
On the transfer window controversy, “It’s inconvenient, there’s no logic to it,”
“It’s not normal that we start the season with the transfer window still open.
“It would be better if all teams could start knowing what they’ve got. These 15 days of uncertainty aren’t good. It should be like the Premier League.”
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