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Messi out of Barca squad for “personal reasons”

Messi out of Barca squad for “personal reasons”

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has pulled out of the squad to face Malaga in La Liga due to personal reasons, the club have announced.

Messi has been replaced by defender Yerry Mina for Saturday's clash.

Argentina international Messi has four goals in his last three La Liga games for leaders Barca, who would go 11 points clear with victory at the La Rosaleda Stadium.

Barcelona are due to face Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16 second leg on Wednesday with the game poised at 1-1.

Messi scored his 600th career goal in the 1-0 win against title rivals Atletico Madrid last Saturday. That result put Barca, who are unbeaten in La Liga this campaign, eight points clear. He scored a free kick as Barca extended their lead at the top of La Liga to eight points with a 1-0 win.

It brought up 600 career goals -- 539 for Barca and 61 for Argentina -- in just his 747th appearance and took his tally for the season to 32 in all competitions