Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are both set to miss Barcelona’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening.
Messi and Suarez had both been doubts for the game, for injury and disciplinary reasons respectively, and neither have been included in the 18-man squad named by coach Luis Enrique on Wednesday morning.
Luis Enrique had said at Tuesday’s news conference that Messi himself would decide if he could play after the Argentine picked up a knock in Sunday’s 6-0 La Liga win over Athletic, although the club have stressed that there is no serious injury concern.
Squad announced for the Copa del Rey first leg at Athletic Club #FCBlive https://t.co/FBjCs4ng0q pic.twitter.com/4YOEPg5zmG
– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 20, 2016
Suarez is suspended due to his part in a tunnel incident during the previous round of the Copa against Espanyol, but Barca had been hopeful that the Spanish government’s Tribunal Administrativo del Deporte (TAD) would free him for the game at San Mames.
The match squad released on Barca’s official website did not include the name of either Messi or Suarez, while also confirming that regular La Liga goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was being excused the trip and that full-back Jordi Alba would also miss the game due to the hamstring injury he picked up last weekend.
A statement read: “Luis Enrique has named his 18 players for Wednesday night’s Copa del Rey match against Athletic Club (9:00 p.m. CET) in Bilbao, and it is as follows: Ter Stegen, Masip, Douglas, Pique, Rakitic, Sergio, Dani Alves, Arda Turan, Iniesta, Neymar Jr, Mascherano, Bartra, Munir, Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Adriano, Aleix Vidal, Vermaelen.
“That means that Bravo, Suarez and Messi will all miss the trip to San Mames, in addition to the injured Jordi Alba, Rafinha and Mathieu.”