Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza blames Barcelona for Lionel Messi's injury
Newly appointed Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza went vocal against Barcelona on Thursday, accusing Barcelona of not taking care of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. The Argentina coach also doubts if Messi will be fit enough to play in his country’s World Cup Qualifying match against Peru and Paraguay.
The Barcelona hitman was injured in his side’s 1-1 draw against Madrid outfit Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. The club confirmed the no.10 has suffered a torn right adductor and will be sidelined for next three weeks.
Also read:Twitter reacts to Lionel Messi's injury against Atletico Madrid
Unhappy with Barcelona
Bauza criticized the Catalan side for playing Messi in four games in 12 days, despite a groin injury that had sidelined Messi earlier this season.
“Barcelona always sends us messages saying that we must take care of Messi, but they don't take care of him very well,“ the Argentina coach told Fox Sports. “It is strange that they make him play in all their matches,” he added.
He also revealed that in the previous qualifier match against Uruguay last month, Messi struggled with a left adductor injury which put him in doubt for the Argentina national side against the La Celeste. A few days later, he was excluded from the Venezuela match for his injury.
After this incident, the 29-year-old was featured in four consecutive domestic and Champions League matches for Barcelona against Alaves, Celtic, Leganes and Atletico Madrid.
Not convinced with the club’s report
The Argentina coach also revealed he was surprised when he received the report from Barcelona, “We received the official report from Barcelona. To us, that seems strange because three weeks is not enough time to repair a torn adductor.”
“We haven’t yet been able to speak with him, but we want to know how serious the injury is,“ he further added.
Also read: FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi ruled out for 3 weeks with injury
Bauza said the team doctors of the Argentine national side were waiting for an MRI to know the level of the injury. “ Barcelona have made it more complicated for us. They posted an official statement and at the moment that is all we have to go on. Our team doctors are waiting on the MRI to know the official grade of the injury,” he said.
He also confirmed that without the doctor’s knowledge of the player’s injury, no definitive answers were available to him.
Says Messi will miss World Cup Qualifiers
Argentina face Peru and Venezuela in World Cup Qualifiers on 6th and 11th October respectively and Bauza does not expect Messi to be available for selection. “I am thinking that Messi is not going to be able to play in the qualifiers.”
However, the coach hopes Messi to be back on the pitch after three weeks. “But we hope that it is nothing serious and that in three weeks he returns to action. But I am thinking about playing these matches without him.“
He also outlined possible replacements for the Argentina captain’s position on the right.
"Down the right side, we could even use [Paulo] Dybala, or even [Angel] Di Maria, Augusto Fernandez, [Erik] Lamela or [Nicolas] Gaitan. We must wait until they arrive to see who is in better shape,” he said to ESPN. “ I think that for the matches against Brazil and Colombia, we will likely have him,” he further added.