Ernesto Valverde Provides Injury Update on Lionel Messi After Draw With Valencia

Ernesto Valverde has expressed his concern after Lionel Messi picked up a knock during Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Valencia at Camp Nou.

It was the visitors who made the stronger start of the two teams, putting Barcelona under immense pressure early on and they soon got their reward for it. Rodrigo Moreno carried the ball forward and played Kevin Gameiro through, who coolly slotted past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

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Things soon went from bad to worse for Barca as Valencia were awarded a penalty on the half hour mark, a penalty which Dani Parejo stepped up and duly dispatched to double the visitors' lead. Camp Nou was left stunned, however the home side were soon handed a lifeline.

On the stroke of half time, Barcelona won a penalty of their own which Messi tucked away to halve the deficit heading into the half time break, and he then got his side back on level terms just after the hour mark with a brilliant finish from outside the area through a crowd of Valencia defenders.

Barcelona couldn't find a winning goal and had to settle for a point as both sides played out an enthralling 2-2 draw. There was a moment of concern for the home fans when Messi went down injured with 20 minutes remaining, and although he did manage to see out the rest of the game Valverde confirmed to the press after the draw (via Yahoo Sport) that he has a slight problem.

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He said: "[Messi] has a small problem. I don't know exactly what he has. 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'll be desperate to have his star man back in time for the first leg of Barcelona's Copa del Rey semi final against Real Madrid on Wednesday night, although the initial signs don't seem too promising.