Barcelona star Lionel Messi may or may not be ready for the Nov. 21 Clasico against Real Madrid, said manager Luis Enrique, who was evasive when asked the question following the Catalan club's 3-0 win on Sunday against Villlarreal.
"[Messi] is neither ruled out nor certain to play," said Luis Enrique of the Argentine forward's knee injury progress.
"He is still in the recovery process. It is going well. There are two weeks left. We will get Messi back, but either before or after that game. The only thing we are concerned about, since Leo was injured, was for him to recover well. We are infinitely stronger with Messi."
Messi, 28, was ruled out of action for seven to eight weeks on Sept. 26 after tearing the internal collateral ligament of his left knee early on in the 2-1 win against La Palmas.
The Barcelona coach said last week the forward would not be rushed into making a return for the Nov. 21 Clasico with Real Madrid.
Asked after the game if Neymar's recent performances mean he is now the world's second-best player behind Messi, the Barca coach said he had a squad packed with world-class superstars.
"I will leave that for you guys," Luis Enrique said. "I am delighted to have Neymar, Leo, [Sergio] Busquets, Andres [Iniesta], Luis [Suarez]. I am privileged, they are unique players committed to the collective cause."
Barca have now won six straight games in La Liga and the Champions League, and after the coming international break will play Real Madrid on Nov. 21 at the Bernabeu.
"It is not for me to say if this is our best moment of the season, but we are getting better," Luis Enrique said. "I hope and wish that we can get a lot better, but we allowed Villarreal to create few chances, which means we did well. In both aspects of play [attack and defence] we did well."