More Messi criticism - 'It will be a disgrace if he plays against Alaves'

The return of the Lionel Messi drama in Argentina. If the Barcelona star was his country’s saviour against Uruguay, scoring the winning goal, he’s back to being criticised again after missing the 2-2 draw against Venezuela. 

Messi travelled to Argentina with a groin problem, yet he still played against Uruguay, which Edgardo Bauza’s side won 1-0 thanks to the Barça man’s goal. It led to plenty of praise -- but that praise has not lasted long. 

As a precaution, Messi returned to Barcelona earlier this week to protect his groin injury. Without him, Argentina slipped up against Venzuela, only managing a draw. In turn, the campaign against Messi for his lack of commitment has been reactivated. 

“Messi’s [injury] is so bad that he couldn’t help his team-mates against Venezuela? It was that bad? Because when he arrived in Barcelona he had his groin attended to and he posted a photo saying “Everything’s fine, don’t worry.’ If that’s the case… why not play against Venezuela?” said journalist Martin Liberman live on Debate Final in relation to a photograph Messi posted on Facebook on Monday. 

“It would be a disgrace to not play against Venezuela and then to play against Alaves,” another journalist said. 

Remember that Liberman was one of the journalists debating if Messi really wanted to retire from the national team -- as he did after the Copa America final this summer before making a U-turn last month -- asking if it was all “a strategy to avoid criticism.”