Lionel Messi had to miss out from the semi-finals of the Club World Cup back in December of 2015 due to a problem that he had with kidney stones and now recent medical tests have emerged which has detected and confirm that the Argentine is still suffering from this problem and he will have to go under the knife in order to help solve this issue.
Lionel Messi recently reached the 500th goal mark during the Copa del Rey match that his team played against Valencia on February 3 and the final scoreboard displayed 7-0 in favor of Luis Enrique’s team as they obliterated their opponents. The Argentine scored 3 times in this match while Suarez found the back of the net on 4 occasions. Scoring 500 goals in the entirety of his career is an accomplishment that not many players are able to reach but the Argentine superstar managed to do this at the age of 28.
Messi is by far the most important and influential player in Barcelona and he will play a key role in the upcoming matches and competitions that the Spanish club is expected to not only compete but also win in them as well, which is why they need him fit sooner rather than later!
Thankfully, even with the treatment that the Argentine is about to receive, he is expected to be back in action and playing with the rest of his teammates in their upcoming training sessions by Wednesday.
Let’s say that Messi does need more time to recover and he is unable to get back into the pitch as soon as the medical team of the Spanish club is predicting, Barcelona still has enough firepower in their attacking department that can cope with the absence of their star player.
Barcelona is probably the only team in the entire world of football that has the privilege to continue scoring goals on a consistent basis even without having in the pitch their most influential and important figure. Neymar and Luis Suarez have turned into consistent goal-scorers who can take charge of the offensive duties of the club.
There is no doubt that missing a player with the calibre of Messi is a big loss for any team but Luis Enrique has more than enough options and alternatives that can help him deal with the possibility of having to play matches without the 5 times Ballon d’Or winner.
Luis Enrique has a busy season lying ahead of him as Barcelona is currently performing in the Champions League, La Liga and the Kings Cup. Barcelona remain title contenders even with him sidelined, in fact the Spanish club is expected to win most of these competitions.
But with so many matches that are coming up this also increases the risk of his own players getting injured due to the elevated amount of games and this is something that Luis Enrique has to take into consideration, especially now in these crucial stages of the Spanish League as well as the Champions League.
The problem of playing in so many matches is that there is always the risk of getting injured. Messi is not a player that is known for getting injured but it’s still a possibility and this is why the manager of the Argentine national side Gerardo Martino has recently stated that Lionel Messi will be skipping the 2016 Summer Olympics which kicks off on August.
Gerardo Martino did say that Messi will play in the approaching Centennial Copa America as well as the World Cup qualifiers but the Argentine is going to have to sit out from the Rio Olympics which will be taking place in Brazil.
The Centennial Copa America and the Rio Olympics will both kick-off in a period when Barcelona will have finalized with all of their major competitions including the Champions League and the Spanish League. The finals of the Champions League are expected to take place on May 28 while the last league match will be played on May 15. This gives plenty of time for Messi to recover and rest from his club duties before going off to represent his national team in the international stage.