.jpg)
Lionel Messi should take his place in Barcelona's starting XI for the visit of Celta Vigo on Saturday after the birth of his first child.
La Liga’s leading scorer was absent from Friday’s training session after accompanying his pregnant girlfriend Antonella Racuzzo to a hospital in central Barcelona for the birth of his first child, a boy called Thiago.
"Leo Messi is a father," Barca confirmed in a statement. "This Friday afternoon Antonella Rocuzzo, the Argentine star's girlfriend, gave birth to Thiago Messi, the couple's first son."
Messi, 25, added on his Facebook page: "Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son has been born. I thank God for this gift. Thanks to my family for the support. A hug for everyone."
Earlier Barca coach Tito Vilanova said he was happy to leave the decision over whether Messi takes to the field to the player himself, saying: “It’s personal for him but in principle he is ready for the game. It doesn’t matter that he’s missed one day of training.”
Vilanova is looking forward to welcoming Celta, where he spent three years as a player in the mid-nineties. “I have good memories of my time there. Everyone treated me very well and my daughter was born there.
“They are a team that plays from the back and enjoys lots of possession. Celta play good football and we’ll need to play well to win. But we enjoy playing against more expansive teams – it’s better for the spectators.”
Vilanova will again be without injured central defensive pairing Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, although he did reveal that Pique has stepped up his recovery and should return to full training “in the next few days.”
Barca will be hoping for three points to keep themselves ahead of joint-leaders Atletico Madrid, who face a tough trip to Valencia as they aim to maintain the pace with Vilanova’s side.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone is unconcerned that his team’s spectacular start to the season has attracted so little public recognition, and was instead happy to pile the praise on his compatriot Messi. “Messi is unsurpassable in today’s game. He’s marvellous – like a PlayStation character.”
Across the capital, Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is facing a mounting injury crisis as his fourth-placed side prepare for the visit of Real Zaragoza.
With three full backs already missing – Alvaro Arbeloa, Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao – Mourinho now faces further selection headaches with the absence of his two holding central midfielders, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso.
“The only one who could return is Arbeloa. Of course I would prefer to have all my players available, but we have a squad to respond to situations like this.”
Mourinho is urging his players to focus fully on Saturday’s game rather than allowing their thoughts to stray to Tuesday’s Champions’ League clash with Dortmund, which has taken on added importance following the German side’s victory against Madrid in the last round of fixtures.
“We have to forget about Tuesday’s game and keep our concentration. Zaragoza keep on picking up points and have a calm approach.”
And he further fuelled the debate surrounding his public criticism of reserve team coach Alberto Toril by saying: “Toril and I both have our autonomy but the club is bigger than any individual.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment