This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has ruled out Lionel Messi for the team's season opener against Athletic Bilbao, citing concerns over the Argentine's fitness.
Messi injured his calf in training before the team's pre-season tour of the United States and has not yet returned to full training.
Valverde stated, 'We never like to risk any players and much less someone like Leo. He still hasn’t returned to training with the team and while we are happy with his progress, individual training is very different to playing a match. We are going to wait and see.'
Barcelona have spent over 200 million euros on signings, including Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann, but continue to be linked with a second swoop for Neymar, who left the club two years ago for a world record 222 million euros.
Valverde refused to comment on the club's interest in Neymar, saying, 'Neymar belongs to PSG and we’ll see what happens but I can’t say anything more about him.'
The team's game in Bilbao was only confirmed last Friday after a court case was settled between the league’s organising body and the Spanish football federation over scheduling games outside of the weekend.
Valverde criticised the two bodies for their handling of the situation, saying, 'It seems incredible to me that the war over the match days and schedules was not solved before hand, the image of the league and federation has been damaged as a result.'
