MADRID, 14 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Argentine player of Paris Saint-Germain Lionel Messi will not play this weekend in the Ligue 1 match against Brest, belonging to matchday 21 of the French championship, as confirmed by his coach Mauricio Pochettino in the preview of the match.
Messi, who contracted the coronavirus on December 26, tested negative in the Kings preview and since then, after his return to Paris from Argentina, he has trained alone trying to speed up his recovery, which is being more expensive than desired .
The ‘flea’ was already ruled out for PSG’s draw (1-1) in Lyon last week in a poor game for the Parisians, far from his usual offensive production due to the multiple casualties of the team. Messi will not be here this Saturday (9pm) either, but he will return next week to train with his teammates.
“Having made good progress, Lionel Messi continues to work with the club’s medical and performance staff, and will gradually rejoin the team next week,” the French entity said in a fitness update for the Argentine No. 10.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino also referred to Messi’s physical condition in his pre-match press conference, but declined to comment on whether Messi would leave Paris to represent Argentina in World Cup qualifiers at the end of January.
“No, Leo is not available for Saturday,” said the former Tottenham manager. “Leo is doing better, but he is still under the supervision of the medical department. We hope he can be back in the team as soon as possible,” Pochettino added.
When asked if Messi had made the decision not to represent his team in upcoming international matches, Pochettino was puzzled and replied: “I don’t know what decision you mean. He is being evaluated daily and we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We hope they all come back.” as soon as possible, to be available for the team,” he said.
Messi has revealed that it took him longer than expected to recover after testing positive while at home in Argentina during the mid-season break. “As you know, I had Covid and I wanted to thank you for all the messages I received and tell you that it took me longer than I thought to be fine, but I’m almost recovered and I’m here. I really want to get back on the court,” he wrote in his Instagram.
Meanwhile, Pochettino refused to discuss Neymar’s recovery but admitted the Parisians missed the Brazilian as the league leaders have won just one of their five Ligue 1 games since the winger suffered a leg injury. ankle ligaments in November.
“Neymar is following his recovery plan. He is a very important player. He has tremendous quality and I think any team would miss a player like Neymar,” the PSG coach concluded without adding more details about the former Barcelona player’s return.