A deep scar left on Lionel Messi’s leg has been spotted in training after the Barcelona star was the victim of a nasty tackle by Sevilla’s Diego Carlos during the 0-0 draw between the two sides on Friday night.
The Catalan giants missed the chance to go five points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table following the stalemate, and Los Blancos now have the opportunity to draw level on points with their bitter rivals when they take on Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Messi was looking for the 700th goal of his career during the game at the Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium but other than a first-half free-kick that was headed off the line he was fairly subdued during the encounter.
(Image: Courtesy of FCB)
(Image: Courtesy of FCB)
But as shown from the photos, he was lucky to avoid a serious injury following a late lunge by Carlos.
Messi endured a running duel with the Brazilian defender throughout the match, and he could consider himself fortunate not to be sent off after he shoved the player to the ground near the end of the first-half after a foul on Luis Suarez.
The draw could have been worse for Barcelona after Sevilla’s Sergio Reguilon found himself with a glorious chance to seal a win in added time at the end of the 90 minutes, but he snatched at his shot and it was easily saved by Ter Stegen.
(Image: REUTERS)
Messi and co will next be in action on Tuesday as they host Athletic Club, with the title race looking like it will go all the way to the wire.
Speaking after the draw against Sevilla their manager Quique Setien said: “We were very confident because we had 30 very good minutes at the beginning of the game and then we got messy. In the second half, we lost balls that gave them life.”
