Messi's father: I didn't say Leo wasn't fit to face Bayern
Posted Thursday, April 25, 2013 by YAHOO Sport
Lionel Messi's father has denied telling anyone that his son was not fit for Barcelona's Champions League semifinal first-leg clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Former agent Josep Maria Minguella has claimed that Jorge Messi told him that the Argentine was in no condition to start at the Allianz Arena, having made just one substitute appearance for the Blaugrana since sustaining a hamstring injury against Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the month.
However, he has now denied that he made any such admission before his son's anonymous display in the Catalans' devastating 4-0 defeat in Bavaria.
"I never said that Leo was not in condition to play, and there are people who were with me and they know it," the player's father told Ole. "They asked me how he was and I said: 'In my opinion, he's fine'. The routine [medical] exams had gone well.
"I expected him to play, and I said exactly that."
Messi admitted afterwards that he was not "100 percent comfortable" but insisted that he had been fit to feature.
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