Lionel Messi makes Barcelona squad for trip to face Betis

Posted Sunday, December 09, 2012 by Goal.com

The Argentina international trained with his team-mates on Saturday and his coach has confirmed that he will be in the the squad on Sunday, but he may not play the whole game

Tito Vilanova has stated that Lionel Messi has recovered from his injury and will be travelling with the Barcelona team to Betis.

The Argentina star picked up a knock midweek after coming on as a substitute against Benfica, and initially was a doubt for the game, but his trainer has insisted that the forward will be fit to play.

"If there was even the smallest risk then Messi would not travel with the rest of the team," Vilanova told a press conference.

"This means he has recovered and ready to play. However, we will assess his condition tomorrow [Sunday] and then decide whether he can play 90 minutes or not."

The Barca coach then went on to highlight how Betis are always a problem side, and also hinted that Alexis Sanchez could be close to returning.

He added: "Betis and Pepe Mel cause us problems every season.

"As for Alexis [Sanchez], he has recovered faster than we thought and he is doing well physically. He just needs to get some playing time to get him up to full match fitness."

Barcelona travel to the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Sunday for a game scheduled to kick-off at 21:00CET.