Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova defended the absence of Lionel Messi for their home humiliation by Bayern Munich.

Bayern thumped Barca 3-0 at the Nou Camp to reach the Champions League final 7-0 on aggregate.

"Leo played against Athletic because he was feeling good but at the end of the match he noticed a strange feeling in his leg. There's no injury but after so many days of not training it can feel uncomfortable for a player and he could have picked up an injury if he had played." He added: "when you have such a good player like Leo it's normal for it to be noticeable when he doesn't play," said Vilanova.