© EuroFootball.com
The team received bad news again - striker Henrik Larsson must miss the first UEFA Champions League semi-final match against , which will take place next Tuesday, due to an Achilles tendon injury. The 34-year-old Swede suffered the injury in Friday's Spanish league match against , which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Catalans. The striker left the field in the 8th minute and was replaced by Santiago Ezquerro. According to medical professionals, H. Larsson's injury is not serious and it is expected that he will be able to play in the return match on April 26. "This is very bad news for us, but we need to be focused only on the upcoming matches," said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard. Due to injuries, another important Barcelona player, Lionel Messi, will also miss both semi-final matches. The young Argentinean has not played since the month of March when he suffered an injury in the quarter-final match against London . Recently, the injury flared up again and now the player insists he will not rush to return to the field. "I made a mistake by wanting to play without fully recovering from my injury, so I will only return to the field when completely healed and with permission from the doctors," said the forward. - I will now go to Argentina and will not return to Spain until I am fully recovered."
