The Messiah is back to lead Barcelona
August 31st 2008 02:12
Messi is back in Barcelona colours
Argentine midfielder Lionel Messi has been cleared to play in Barcelona's La Liga opener against new-comers Numancia.
It will be Messi's first match since he steered Argentina to the football gold medal in Beijing, having helped them defend the title received in Athens 2004.
New Barcelona manage Pep Guardiola was indeed pleased to see his star midfielder back in the Catalan capital.
"Luckily, he has arrived without injury. I see him in great tune," Guardiola said.
No doubt the conflict between Messi, Barcelona, the AFA and the TAS prior to the Olympics are a thing of the past.
Since then, 'the flea' has become a Olympic champion while Barcelona disposed Polish side Crocavia to qualify for the Champions League.
But now, the Spanish Primera is about to kick off and Messi is ready to resume playing in a Barcelona side that will be without stars Deco, Zambrotta and Ronaldinho, who all left in the pre-season for supposedly greener pastures.
Attending a press conference prior to their opener against Numancia, Guardiola said that he has a lot of confidence in Messi's ability to lead the team through a new era.
"Thank god he came back from Beijing very well. That is big news for us. He seems very happy with the gold medal and is pumped up despite not getting as much sleep as usual."
The following players will start for Barcelona as they look to win the La Liga title which has been claimed by Real Madrid for the past two seasons.
Starting 11: Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Abidal, Márquez, Puyol, Piqué, Cáceres, Keita, Touré, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'o, Messi, Henry and Bojan.
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