Lionel Messi misses Barcelona training session
Madrid, Feb 2: FC Barcelona confirmed on Monday that Argentine star Lionel Messi missed training due to "personal reasons". This is the second time in a short span of time that spanners have been thrown in the Catalan club’s training sessions because of a no-show from their Argentine talisman.
"Messi hasn't trained today, with the permission of the club, due to personal reasons," the La Liga club said in a statement, reports Xinhua.
Previous absence had sparked crisis
It is just over a month since the four-time World Player of the Year missed another training session, claiming to be suffering from gastroenteritis, one day after he had been left on the bench in Barcelona's 0-1 defeat against Real Sociedad.
Messi's absence on that occasion sparked a crisis at the club as speculation grew over coach Luis Enrique's future due to his strained relationship with the star player.
However, since then Barcelona had a eight-straight victories to move into the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and remain just a point behind arch-rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.
Messi scored the winning goal in Barcelona's come-from-behind 3-2 win against Villarreal on Sunday.