Messi Groin Injury Is Not Serious

Good news surrounds Barcelona, after it was announced that Lionel Messi has not injured his groin after missing Argentina’s friendly with Costa Rica. Tests were carried out today (Thursday 31st March) and revealed that no damage to his abductor muscle had occurred.

“Leo Messi arrived this morning at Barcelona,along with his team-mates (Diego) Milito and (Javier) Mascherano,” read a Barca statement. After completing tests the doctors have ruled out any abductor muscle injury in his right leg. “The player will continue physio treatment until Saturday and will then be evaluated ahead of the match against Villarreal.”

“I have spoken to Messi and his feelings are positive,” reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto said at a news conference. “He is feeling good despite the minor problems he is suffering. We all know Messi and his competitive spirit but the most important thing is his health.”

The prolific Messi’s presence will be crucial against Villarreal as Barca seek to preserve their five-point lead over Real, whom they play at the Bernabeu in just over two weeks.

Messi

Lionel Messi is an Argentine footballer who is currently regarded by many critics and football fans alike to be the World's Best Player. He is the holder of the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon D'or awards for 2009 and 2010.
He currently plays Football for FC Barcelona in Spain and for the Argentina National Football team.
This website aims to cover all the latest news and comment on the superstar, along with numerous other features such as pictures, videos and statistics.

Please note this is a fan site and we are in no way affiliated to Lionel Messi.

Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 (Aggregate 4-3) - Lionel Messi's magic is too much for the visiting gunners

Barcelona produced a terrific team performance to knock-out Arsenal from the Champions League having lost 3 weeks ago in London, winning on the night by three goals to one.

Inevitably, it was the trio of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi who were pulling the strings for the Blaugrana, even though it took a while for the maestros to warm up.

Barcelona found themselves up against an extremely resistant Arsenal back line in the first half and were thwarted constantly in their attempts to score. The deadlock was finally broken in extra time during the first period after an uncharacteristic mistake from Cesc Fabregas. The Arsenal man inadvertently back-heeled the ball into the path of Iniesta. He skipped past two players with neat footwork and threaded the ball to Messi. Messi, one on one with substitute goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, delicately lofted the ball over the advancing keeper before volleying into the net. It was a truly wonderful finish and another feather on the illustrious bow Messi is amassing.

Arsenal, who found it extremely difficult to even create a chance against Barcelona, found themselves surprisingly even after 53 minutes. Having won a corner from nothing, Sergio Busquets handed the visitors a gift by heading into his own goal.

The referee made a shocking decision minutes later when he dismissed Robin van Persie, issuing a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. The Arsenal man argued that he hadn't worth the whistle amidst the noise of 100,000 spectators in the stadium, but his protests went unheard.

Barcelona responded and were back ahead on the 69th minute. Some more great work from Iniesta and Villa led to Xavi bearing down on goal. He made no mistake, the ball deflecting into the goal off Djorou.

Barcelona extended their lead two minutes later as Pedro was brought down in the box. Leo Messi stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched the ball calmly in the corner.

Messi now has 45 goals in all competitions for Barcelona this season, and is the leading scorer in the Champions League with 8 goals.

Barcelona could have added to their tally and saw out the remaining 20 minutes to see them advance into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. Forza Barca!

Gareth Bale wants to be like Messi

Gareth Bale: I want to be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, says Tottenham winger
Gareth Bale has said he hopes to one day become as good as two-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

Bale has been at the forefront of Spurs' impressive first foray into the Champions League, and promises that he has yet to realise his full potential, despite a number of exhilerating performances on the left wing.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is anxious for the Wales international to be fit for next week's quarter-final against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, as the London club attempt to avoid an injury crisis.

Bale is recovering from a hamstring strain, while Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, Younes Kaboul, William Gallas and Aaron Lennon are all having treatment.

It is Bale, though, who Spurs fans will be most hopeful of seeing take on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil.

"This is probably the best that I have played in my career but there is a lot more to come," Bale said. "I have a lot more to learn and I keep working hard in training and games, try things, and I just want to improve.

2010-2011 SEASON

2010–11 season

On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss.[113] He also began his league season with a goal, scoring after just three minutes against Racing Santander on 29 August 2010. He then continued his excellent form into the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Panathinaikos where he scored two goals, assisted another two and also hit the goal-frame on 2 separate occasions. He also missed a penalty, though. Barcelona won the match 5–1.

On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[114] Team-mate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt".[115] The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game.

When he recovered he scored in a 1–1 tie against RCD Mallorca. He then scored another brace on the UEFA Champions League against København and helped the team to a 2–0 home win.[116] He continued his impressive scoring run with braces against Zaragoza and Sevilla. After a prolific October, he started November scoring on an away 1–1 tie against København and an away 3–1 win against Getafe where he also assisted team-mates David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez.[117] In the next fixture against Villarreal CF, he scored an amazing goal combining with Pedro, which gave Barcelona a 2–1 lead. He scored another goal and Barcelona won 3–1. This was the 7th consecutive match in which Messi scored, breaking his own previous record of 6. He also achieved the feat of scoring 50 goals in the calender year of 2010 with the 1st goal, while with the second goal, he achieved the same feat again, this time considering the goals he scored wearing a Barcelona shirt in the year 2010. Against Almería he scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second goal was his 100th La Liga goal.[118] He scored on his ninth game in a row (10th including a friendly against Brazil) on a 3–0 away win against Panathinaikos.[119]

His goalscoring run ended on 29 November at El Clásico but Barcelona still managed to win 5–0 with Messi assisting Villa twice.[120] The next match day he scored a brace and gave an assist against Osasuna.[121] He followed with another brace against Real Sociedad.[122] In El Derbi, a match Barcelona won 1-5, he assisted teammates Pedro and Villa to score one goal each.[123] His first goal in 2011 came against Deportivo La Coruña with a free kick on a 4-0 away win, where he once again assisted both Pedro and Villa.[124]

He won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta.[125] Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year.[126] Only two days after he won the award he scored his first hat-trick of the year and third of the season against Real Betis.[127] He began the second round of the league with a goal, scoring his second penalty against Racing Santander.[128] After scoring the penalty kick, Messi revealed a message on his undershirt that said, "Happy birthday, mami.".[129] He continued his goalscoring form with a brace against Almería in the Copa del Rey semifinal,[130] and followed it up with another brace less than a week later against Hércules CF.[131] On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou.[132] Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."[133] After two scorless games he scored the winner against Athletic Bilbao in which Barcelona won 2-1.[134] The next week he scored the first header of the season against Mallorca on a 3-0 away win.[135] This victory was the equalising a La Liga record set by Basque club Real Sociedad in the 1979-80 campaign with a 19 unbeaten away matches. The record was broken after three days later when Messi scored the only goal on an away victory over Valencia.[136] On 8 March, Messi scored two goals against Arsenal FC in a UEFA Champions League match at the Camp Nou, helping FC Barcelona win 3-1 and qualify to the quarter-finals of the competition.[137]

2009-2010 SEASON

2009–10 season
"Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace."

"He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make."
Arsène Wenger after Barcelona won 4–1 against Arsenal.[77][78]

Messi in action during the Joan Gamper Trophy match between Barcelona and Manchester City at Camp Nou

After winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen.[79] On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly.[80][81] Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça's 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga.[82] He scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv,[83] and then took his goal tally to six goals in seven games in La Liga with a strike during a 6–1 routing of Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou.[84][85]

Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233.[86][87][88] Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me."

On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year.[90] Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award; beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour.[91] On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory,[92] and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla.[93]

Messi then started an impressive run scoring 11 goals in five games. First he scored on the 84th minute against Málaga for a 2–1 win,[94] then he scored two goals against UD Almería in a 2–2 tie.[95] He continued his spree with an impressive week where he scored eight goals; he started by scoring a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win,[96] then he scored two goals against Stuttgart, in a 4–0 win that secured Barcelona's qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League,[97] and finally he scored another hat-trick against Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win,[98] becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga.[99] He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010.[100]

On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.[101][102][103] This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition.[104] On 10 April, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season when he netted the first goal in a 2–0 away win against title-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico.[105] On 1 May, Messi played his 50th game of the season and scored two goals on a 4–1 away win against Villarreal.[106] Just three days later, on 4 May, Messi scored two goals in another 4–1 win at home against Tenerife.[107] Messi scored his 32nd goal of the La Liga season on 8 May, during an away win against Sevilla,[108] and in the final match against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in 1996–97,[109][110] and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by Telmo Zarra.[111] He was named La Liga player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010.[112]

2008-2009 SEASON

2008–09 season

Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey.[58] On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 victory for Barcelona.[59] The next league game was versus Atlético Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Messi and his good friend Sergio Agüero.[60] Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as Barça went on to win the match 6–1.[61] Messi netted another impressive brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from 23 metres (25 yd) and then dribbling round the goalkeeper and scoring from a tight angle for the other.[62] On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid.[63] He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.[9]

Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1.[64] Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal.[65] In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the process.[66] On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition.[67] On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid.[68]

As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu[69] in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930.[70] After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction.[71] Messi was involved in the build-up to Andrés Iniesta's injury time goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to send Barcelona through to face Manchester United in the final. He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao.[72] He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals.[73] Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe.[74] This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season,[75] and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.[76]