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Lionel Messi handed Barcelona a fitness boost by returning to training on New Year’s Day ahead of Sunday’s clash with Huesca in La Liga.
The Barcelona captain missed Barca’s last game of 2020 with an ankle issue, as Ronald Koeman’s side were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Eibar at the Camp Nou without the Argentina international.
However, the 33-year-old is now back in action and could feature in Barca’s first game of 2021 against the team currently bottom of the table in Spain.
Barca train again on Saturday morning before coach Ronald Koeman names his traveling squad for the match at El Alcoraz.
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Barca Missed Messi
The Catalan giants will be eager to get their captain and top scorer back for the trip to Huesca. Barca have managed just two wins on the road so far this season in La Liga and tend to struggle without their star man.
55.9% – Since his debut in October 2004, Barcelona have won just 55.9% of their LaLiga games without Lionel Messi (W66 D39 L22), compared to 73.7% with him in the side (W368 D83 L48). Nostalgia.
Messi watched Barca’s draw against Eibar in the stands and couldn’t hide his frustration at seeing his team drop more points at the Camp Nou.
Pain..😕
Koeman admitted after the game his team had missed the forward. He told reporters, “We missed Leo, who makes a difference, but the feeling now is that we should have won. We had chances, missed a penalty, and gave away the goal, which was their only shot on target.”
Opposite number Jose Luis Mendilibar also felt the absence of Messi, who scored four on Eibar’s last visit to the Camp Nou, was crucial, as reported by Marca.
I think we had some luck, with the missed penalty, and we took the one chance we had, but the players ran a lot and they’re very tired. They were missing the best player in the world and they did miss Messi. Every time we have come here, he has scored a couple of goals. Today we didn’t have this opponent.
Eibar are indeed a team that Messi has enjoyed playing against throughout his career. He has 20 goals in 11 appearances against the Basque side.
Huesca Up Next
Koeman will be keen for his side to get back to winning ways against struggling Huesca. Sunday’s hosts have managed just one win all season in La Liga, beating Alaves 1-0 on December 12.
The visitors will be heavy favorites to take all three points, but it’s worth noting Michel’s side held table-toppers Atletico Madrid to a goalless draw in La Liga back in September.
Barca also drew 0-0 on their last visit to Huesca in the league in 2018, but it was a different story at the Camp Nou where the Catalan giant handed out a thrashing and ran out 8-2 winners.
Huesca won promotion back to the Spanish top-flight last summer after just one season in the Segunda Division but already look set for a battle against relegation in 2020-21.
Los Azulgranas head into 2021 four points from safety and with the second-worst defensive record in the league. Only Real Betis have conceded more goals than Huesca so far in 2020-21.
Barca’s away form is less than impressive, with just two wins from six games, but the team did win 3-0 at Real Valladolid in their last away fixture.
Messi netted Barca’s third of the night at the José Zorrilla Stadium, with a strike that broke Pele’s long-held record of goals for a single club, and now has 10 for the season in all competitions.
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