Lionel Messi suggests he is still not fully fit as Barcelona prepare for their Champions League quarter-final fixture against Manchester United.
Barcelona will travel to Old Trafford to take on United in the first-leg of the last eight encounter in less than two weeks time, but there is now fresh concern over the fitness of the 31-year-old.
Messi suffered another injury setback over the international break and pulled out of the Argentina side ahead of their friendly win over Morocco earlier this week.
The Barcelona legend says that he is annoyed by the criticism he has received over his recent international commitments, before he also revealed that he is still not fully fit from an injury suffered late last year.
"Somebody says whatever they want to say about me and then people believe it and I'm painted as the son of a b****," he told Radio 94.7.
“It has become the custom to say things about me. They invent things about me when I am not there. Nothing surprises me.
“The truth is I came back to the Argentina team with a pubis injury that I have been carrying since December and I have been training less and not playing all games.
“Pubis injuries are complicated; you cannot shake them off from one day to the next. I feel better but I have to take care of myself.
“I wanted to play both games with Argentina but after the first game I had some pain and I decided to rest so as not to aggravate the injury. It is improving all the time but it is not completely cleared up.”
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