Messi to miss Barcelona’s 2011 opener

The world player of the year Lionel Messi and key defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique will not serve under the Spanish champions Barcelona for 2011. Coach Pep Guardiola gave top scorer Messi permission to miss Sunday’s home battle with Levante as his side seeks to move five points clear of second-placed rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga standings.
The club’s website reported on Friday that they allowed Argentina forward to extend his holiday, so will be missing from the line-up for only the fourth time this season. Captain Puyol is ruled out with a groin injury that he pulled out from playing for Catalonia in the representative game against Honduras earlier this month, and may also miss next weekend’s trip to Deportivo La Coruna. His central defensive partner Pique is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card this season in Barca’s final league game of 2010, the 5-1 thrashing of city rivals Espanyol on December 18.
The capital club’s website reported that 5,000 fans turned up to watch the squad return to training on Thursday. “I had never been in a session attended by so many people,” Real’s former Getafe winger Pedro Leon said. We thank the fans for their support and we ask them to continue supporting us. I hope we can thank them by winning a title at the end of the campaign.”