Lionel Messi struggling to shift foot injury, says Guillem Balague

Lionel Messi’s niggling foot injury is a concern but the Barcelona star will continue to start for the Catalan side, says Guillem Balague.

Messi picked up the injury after Barcelona’s Champions League last-16 second-leg clash against Manchester City last month, and did not feature in Argentina’s friendlies against El Salvador and Ecuador last week.

But with Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga only four points, Balague says Messi will still be played while the injury does not affect his performance.

He told Revista de La Liga: “He has a problem which gives him pain. For two weeks he was having trainers instead of boots [in training], now he has boots that are not as tight on his foot.

“He has something on the side of his foot, which gives him pain.”

Balague says Messi’s injury is still causing him pain and refuses to ease, but it is clear the Argentine is vital for the La Liga run-in with nine games remaining.

“He got it after a [Martin] Demichelis tackle against City. He played with it against Real Madrid, and he didn't play for Argentina because he didn't need to.

"Then he came back and he continued playing with the pain. He will continue playing and in Spain [they say] nothing is broken, nothing serious, but nothing seems to be going.”