Messi set to return

LIONEL Messi could see action in the opening salvo of the Champions Cup. AFP

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said Lionel Messi could make his comeback against Borussia Dortmund as the Catalan giant launch a fresh assault on the Champions League title in Germany on Tuesday evening.

Messi, who missed the beginning of the season with a calf injury, was named in the lineup of Barcelona’s squad for the Champions League opener, though it remains unclear whether the Argentinian will play.

“We will decide tomorrow. For the last week we have been unsure whether he will be able to play, but he has trained two or three times and made a good impression. We will see,” said Valverde at a press conference on Monday.

The Barcelona coach refused to say whether 16-year-old Ansu Fati, who became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer earlier this month, would break another record by becoming the youngest ever Champions League debutant.

“If he plays, then it will not be because of the record,” the coach said.

Valverde said his team was looking to put the past behind after its dramatic semifinal defeat to eventual winners Liverpool in last season’s Champions League.

“If you have one bad day, you can be knocked out of this competition. We lost just one match last season, but it was a decisive match,” he said, adding that Barcelona wanted to go further this year than they had in the past two seasons.

Yet Marc Ter Stegen, Barcelona’s German keeper, who played under current Dortmund coach Lucien Favre at Borussia Moenchengladbach earlier in his career, warned that Dortmund would provide a tough first test.