Barcelona train without Lionel Messi for Atletico clash

Barcelona started training at 11am in their last session before they face Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

In principle Luis Enrique was expecting to see all his players feature in the session, with everyone back from international duty for the first time, but in the first few minutes of training, which were open to the press, Lionel Messi did not appear. 

It was later reported that he was allowed not to be present at the session by Lucho - with his second son, Benjamin, born later in the morning.

Messi and Javier Mascherano were the last internationals to return to Barcelona after playing with the Argentine national side in Arlington (Texas, USA), and as well as a long voyage back, they have to recover from jet lag. 

Apart from that, and waiting on the press conference of Luis Enrique, everything indicates they will be fine to face Atletico Madrid on Saturday.