Lionel Messi Re-Appointed Barcelona Captain & Set to Play Against Gimnastic

Lionel Messi has been re-elected as Barcelona's captain for the 2020/21 season, and is likely to appear in their first pre-season friendly against Gimnastic on Saturday evening.

The Argentine's transfer saga dominated the headlines for a month, but came to a head earlier this month when he committed his short-term future to the club in a groundbreaking interview. After a long absence, he returned to training on Monday, as he and the club look to put their differences behind them for the time being.

Now, Marca report that even further normality has been restored, with the news that Messi will retain the captain's armband for the season ahead. The squad had their annual vote on the captaincy on Monday, and it was decided that Messi will continue to lead the club into the Ronald Koeman era.

As per last season, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto will share the vice captaincy.

Barca will face Gimnastic on Saturday evening, and named their squad to face the third-tier side earlier on Saturday. It will be their first match of any description since that defeat to Bayern Munich, and some were surprised to see that Messi - having only returned to training on Monday - was named in the squad.

Marca add that he will feature at some stage, but likely in a late cameo as he seeks to build fitness ahead of the new season. Wednesday's fixture with Girona will see him play a bigger role - 'at least' 45 minutes, according to the Spanish outlet.

Messi will be hoping he can lead Barcelona back to the top of Spanish football, having yielded their dominance to Real Madrid in what was a cataclysmic 2019/20. Shipping eight goals to Bayern was the almighty stick that broke the camel's back, triggering a crisis that tore at the fabric of the club, and very nearly drove Messi away.