Lionel Messi missed Barcelona training on Monday morning, with a stomach upset believed to be the reason for the Argentine's absence.

The attacker was controversially left out of the Barca XI for Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad, but did enter proceedings at the interval.

The damage had already been done, however, with a Jordi Alba own goal ultimately securing all the points for the hosts.

The Catalan outfit hosted an open-doors training session on Monday, but Messi was not present, fuelling suggestions that he could miss Thursday's Copa del Rey clash against Elche.

Rafinha was another first-team absentee from the session.