FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi missed Wednesday's Supercopa de Espana semi-final, but it has since been revealed how he helped his teammates win the game.
The Argentine was not fit enough to feature in the game against Real Sociedad, as Ronald Koeman's assistant Afred Schreuder confirmed ahead of the clash.
"Leo had some physical problems so he's not going to play today. We don't take any risks with him," he said, as quoted by Tribuna.com.
"Messi back for Sunday? First, we have to win today."
The 32-year-old, though, still helped his teammates to overcome La Real.
After initially watching the game from the stands, Messi came down to the sideline to motivate his peers ahead of extra-time after the match was tied at 1-1 following 90 minutes.
According to Sport, Messi also had words of motivation for his side's penalty takers before they beat Sociedad 3-2 in the shootout in which goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved three spot-kicks.
After the match, Koeman confirmed that he does not know whether Messi will feature in Sunday's final, where either Real Madrid or Athletic Bilbao will meet the Blaugrana.
"Regarding Leo, we must wait the next days to know whether he is able to play," he said, according to AS.
