Spanish La Liga: Messi in 'good shape' for El-Clasico - Ernesto Valverde

Real Madrid will play host to Barcelona in the second el-clasico of the week

Ernesto Valverde, Manager of Barcelona FC has expressed confidence in his top player Lionel Messi's form ahead of their match against Real Madrid today, stating that the Argentine is in "very good shape".


Real Madrid will host Barcelona in the second clasico of the week and hope to avenge their Copa Del Rey loss on Wednesday night.

Barcelona crushed Real Madrid 3 - 0 to emerge victorious with a 4 - 1 aggregate to clinch a spot in final of the Copa Del Rey.

After sustaining a thigh injury, Barca captain Messi was initially thought to be unfit against Valencia last month but it appears Coach Valverde has nothing to fret about as regards Messi.

Valverde has now disclosed that he is happy with his star talisman, stating that the Argentine always performs when he needs to.

Via Reuters, in a pre-match conference, Valverde said, “I think he is in good shape, very good shape. You always expect a lot of your players, Messi included. He always performs, even though in some games he performs less than in others. We have to play well in order for him to perform.”