Messi doubtful for El Clasico, Bale is fit

WHILE Barcelona remains silent about Lionel Messi’s health, Real Madrid reports its main concern is who to leave out for their Copa del Rey semifinal today.

The suspense about Messi’s right leg injury entered a third day yesterday, with Barcelona still quiet about the extent of the problem and his availability.

Meanwhile, Madrid arrive for the first-leg match at Camp Nou enjoying their best period of the season and with nearly all of their players available. Coach Santiago Solari has his best forwards, including Karim Benzema, the quickly maturing Vinicius Junior, and a fully fit Gareth Bale.

Bale is one of the many Madrid players who have recovered from injury in recent days, along with other forwards Mariano Diaz and Marco Asensio. Bale returned as a starter on Sunday alongside Benzema and Vinicius Junior as Alaves was beaten 3-0 in the Spanish league, the team’s fifth consecutive win in all competitions.

Solari may not start Bale with Vinicius Junior today as they usually play on the same part of the field and their presence could make the squad too unbalanced and more vulnerable defensively.

The coach was glad to have to worry about that for a change.

“This is never going to be a problem,” Solari said. “It’s a good thing to have Gareth, Vinicius, Marco Asensio, Mariano, Benzema ... it’s a solution.”

There is little doubt Benzema will start, as he has six goals in the last four matches. The French striker has 18 goals, six more than he had in all of last season.

It would be hard to leave out Vinicius Junior, who took advantage of Bale’s absences to become a regular starter and a popular player with fans. The 18-year-old Brazilian has added flair to the attack.

Messi was hurt on Saturday when Barcelona drew with Valencia 2-2 at home, a result that halted the team’s eight-game winning streak in the Spanish league. The club has yet to release a full medical report on the injury, and he didn’t practice with his teammates on Monday.

Messi has scored in nine straight games in all competitions, and is the league leading scorer with 21 in 22 matches.

He missed Barcelona’s 5-1 league rout of Madrid in October because of a broken right arm. He was rested two weeks ago when Barcelona lost at Sevilla 2-0 in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

This first-leg semifinal in the Copa del Rey is the first of three matches between the rivals in less than a month.

| AP