Barça sweating on Messi's fitness ahead of Clasico

Barcelona star Lionel Messi faces further fitness tests ahead of Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Real Madrid.

The Argentine star picked up a thigh injury during his decisive display against Valencia on Saturday after he converted his 50th penalty in La Liga and then pulled his side level with a second-half strike, but needed treatment on the touchline shortly afterward when he pulled up with an apparent thigh injury.


Although he returned to see out the 2-2 draw with Los Che at Camp Nou, coach Ernesto Valverde confirmed after the game that Messi had a "small problem" and would face tests to see if he is available to feature against fierce rivals Madrid in midweek.

"We will have to wait to see what medical staff say. If he's in good shape, he'll play on Wednesday [against Madrid]," he said.

The 31-year-old was still struggling with the injury on Monday, however, and did not take part in normal training with his Barca team-mates.

The Catalan side will assess their top scorer again on Tuesday to see if he is in good enough shape to feature against Santiago Solari's side.