Barcelona, June 5 (IANS): Spanish giants Barcelona downplayed the severity of injury sustained by talismanic skipper Lionel Messi ahead of resumption of LaLiga, currently scheduled for June 11.

It was earlier being reported that Messi had picked-up a long-term injury after he missed few training sessions recently. Barcelona, however, quashed any such concerns but did concede that Messi had indeed sustained a thigh injury.

"Quique Setien and his team were back out on the training ground this Friday after taking the previous day off," Barcelona announced through its official website.

"Barca captain Leo Messi has a minor right quadriceps injury and trained in isolation, doing specific exercises to avoid unnecessary risks with just eight days remaining before Barca finally get back to playing matches. He should be able to rejoin his teammates in a few days' time.

"For tomorrow's (Saturday) session the players will train again, but unusually, this session is going to be on the pitch in the Camp Nou as Setien works to get his players ready for the return to football, but with games being played behind closed doors."

In their first match of the revamped calendar, Barcelona will travel to Mallorca and Messi, along with his teammates, will feature for the first time since coronavirus pandemic stopped all football in the country in March.

Barcelona remain at the top of the LaLiga table with 58 points from 28 games. Real Madrid and Sevilla complete the top three with 56 and 47 points respectively.