体坛英语新闻：Barca favorites against Betis, with or without Messi

MADRID, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The moment of nervous silence that filled the air of the Camp Nou Stadium when Leo Messi crashed to the ground holding his left knee against Benfica on Wednesday night will remain as an anecdote, all be it one which chilled the blood of FC Barcelona fans all over the world.

As Messi hit the ground and failed to get up after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper, Artur, it did look as if the injury was serious and for a while the question on the social networks was whether or not Barca would be able to continue performing without their star player.

Three days later and Messi is preparing to face Betis in the BBVA Primera Liga on Sunday and attempt to beat Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a year.

The Argentinean needs just two goals to beat the record and has said he wants to play from the start, whether or not Barca coach Tito Vilanova will risk him or start with the striker on the bench remains to be seen.

Messi has trained for two days in the gym and given the incredible powers of recovery he has shown previously in his career, the surprise would be if he didn't play.

Vilanova has other options: David Vila has scored whenever given the chance to play and Alexis Sanchez is also available after injury, while Dani Alves has also shaken off his muscle problem to give options in defense.

Sergio Busquets is suspended in central midfield and his absence would give the chance to Alex Song to step into his favored role in front of central defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol.

Barca will be wary of Betis, who are enjoying a fine season and are currently fifth in the table. Vilanova will also be aware of the fact that Real Madrid recently lost in the Benito Vilamarin Stadium and that in Jorge Molina and Ruben Castro, the side from Seville have two excellent attacking players.

However, he will also know that his side has 40 points from a possible 42 this season and that with or without Messi they are favorites. Many talk about 'Messi-dependence" among the league leaders, but the numbers don't back that up. In fact in the last three years, Barca have played 19 matches without Messi and have lost none of them.