Barcelona have this evening been dealt a potential blow on the injury front, after talisman Lionel Messi failed to emerge for the second-half of the club’s meeting with Villarreal.
Barca back on track
The Spanish champions welcomed Javier Calleja’s Villarreal to the Camp Nou a short time ago, for their latest league outing.
The Blaugrana headed into proceedings in search of an immediate bounce-back result. After somehow managing to escape with a 0-0 draw in their Champions League opener at Borussia Dortmund last week, Ernesto Valverde’s men were then put to the sword by 2 goals to nil at Granada over the weekend.
When all was said and done in Catalunya tonight, though, Barca managed to get back on track.
Antoine Griezmann put the hosts in front with just 6 minutes gone, breaking free of the Villarreal back-line to nod home Lionel Messi’s corner at the near post.
Arthur then added the Blaugrana’s 2nd with a quarter of an hour on the clock, with a sumptuous strike.
And, though Santi Cazorla managed to pull one back for Villarreal with a stunning long-ranger of his own shortly before the interval, in the end, Barca hung on for all 3 points.
Messi blow?
An otherwise positive evening for the La Liga champions, though, was soured somewhat by a potential blow on the injury-front.
Star man Lionel Messi, who was making his return to the club’s starting XI following a spell on the sidelines, was replaced by Ousmane Dembele at half-time.
This came after the Argentine received extensive treatment on the sideline, just past the half-hour mark.
Messi’s problem, meanwhile, appeared to have been with his groin.
Lionel Messi’s first start for Barcelona since his calf problem ends at half time 😰 pic.twitter.com/SQMJQtzzJd
— Goal (@goal) September 24, 2019
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