La Liga: Messi to miss Barcelona's final game this season
Argentine star Lionel Messi is set to miss Barcelona's final fixture of the ongoing La Liga season. A report in Goal has confirmed that Messi will miss the impending dead rubber against Eibar. Notably, Messi's future with Barcelona hangs in balance as his contract with the Catalan club will expire at the end of the season. Here is more.
Has Messi already played his last match for Barcelona?
Messi has been given permission by manager Ronald Koeman to miss the upcoming fixture. This means the star striker might have played his final game for Barca. Notably, Messi has time and again hinted at leaving the club. Quite a few reports have claimed that Messi held formal talks with Manchester City. However, Barca remain hopeful of convincing him to stay.
Several clubs interested in signing Messi
Several clubs have shown interest in signing Messi lately. Paris Saint-Germain have been chasing him as they aim to reunite him with his former team-mate Neymar. Following the win over Manchester United in the Champions League, Neymar had said he wanted to play alongside Messi.
Messi scored 38 goals for Barcelona this season
Messi represented Barcelona in 47 games across all competitions this season, having registered 38 goals and 11 assists. As many as 30 goals were scored by him in La Liga, the most by a player in the ongoing season. He also recorded the most assists for Barcelona (9). Besides, Messi netted five goals in the Champions League, and three in Copa del Rey.
Messi presently has 672 career goals for Barcelona
In April, Messi went to score his 650th goal for Barcelona across all competitions. He attained the historic feat as Barcelona clinched a 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga. Last year, Messi broke Pele's all-time record for goals scored for a single club by netting his 644th career goal. Notably, Messi now has a total of 474 La Liga goals for Barca.
La Liga: Barcelona were ruled out of the title race
Considering the present scenario, Barcelona can only finish third in La Liga this season. They were ruled out of the title race after a 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo, and are currently behind Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. The Ronald Koeman-managed side earlier crashed out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage. They will finish the season with the Copa del Rey title.
