Lionel Messi faces a race to be fit if he is to start in this weekend's El Clasico and Graham Hunter believes it is imperative that manager Luis Enrique makes his selection choices wisely.
Real Madrid go into the tie slight favourites, but sit three points adrift of the current champions Barcelona in second. Speaking on Thursday night's Off The Ball, Hunter insisted that Messi could be included but only if he is fit.
"What we do know is that [Messi] is training pretty much full out and he's coming back to fitness ahead of schedule" Hunter said.
"Unless he has some sort of reaction or strain from training after having so many weeks out, then not only will he be on the bench but the question now is; does he start?"
Both Messi and Enrique are strong characters but Hunter explained both respect each others views, especially after the success of last season.
"Put in context of last January, when there was an argument over Messi's participation in the Real Sociedad game when they lost and Xavi intervened.
"Enrique and Messi formed a gentle, but not that comfortable peace. After this, they went on to play spectacularly well up until June when they won the treble.
"This time the men are not pals, they are firm, hard, "will-not-waver" characters, but they see each other's points of view as the months have gone on.
"The key thing now is that Luis Enrique must watch devilishly closely and take his medical and physiotherapy experts opinions and be very careful about what he says and does [regarding including Messi]."
You can hear the full Football Show podcast below.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
