Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura is hopeful Lionel Messi will recover from a hamstring injury in time to face Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
The Argentine star picked up the problem during Barca’s 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in their first-leg clash in the previous round and has featured just once since, when he came on to fire the Catalan club to victory in the return fixture.
And the Camp Nou coach is desperate to see Messi return for the game at the Allianz Arena, hailing his impact on the Liga leaders.
“There’s no doubt that a player of Leo’s quality has an effect on the way on the way you attack,” Roura told a press conference.
“If, unfortunately, he can’t play we have won important games without him. But there is no doubt that it is important for Leo to play against Bayern.
“I can’t say for sure how Messi’s going to be tomorrow. We’ll see how he feels today in training, we’ll listen to the doctors and then we’ll decide. If he’s good then we can count on him.”
Roura also challenged his side to emulate the performance they gave against AC Milan in the round of 16, when they recovered from a 2-0 deficit to go through by demolishing the Italians 4-0 at home.
“Every game, every victory is different. This will be a very tight semi-final. It will be won with the small things, the details. We will look to play another extraordinary game like we did at home against Milan,” he added.
“We’re really looking forward to it. It’s a game everybody wants to watch. We’re very happy and we’ll do everything we can to get through.
“It’s going to be a party, without a doubt, we are going to play with a high intensity, and the team that is able to impose their system and style will have many advantages.
“We’ll try to impose our features to control the game. But we know the potential of Bayern.”
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