Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is hoping to face Real Betis on Sunday

Lionel Messi is hoping to face Real Betis on Sunday after escaping a major injury scare last night.

However, Messi said the record was not as important to him as was being made out. "As I have always said, for me the record is not an obsession," he said. "My colleagues have said they will help me and with them, I am not worried. "It would be great, and hopefully if I do it, it will stand for a long time like Muller's, but it's not something I worry about. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't matter. But we are close so we will try." Messi also downplayed the potential detrimental affect an injury to him could have on Barcelona. "They would continue to play with or without me," he said. "There are plenty of other players." With the result unimportant to Barca, Vilanova has been forced to defend his decision to send Messi on as a 58th-minute substitute. "We talked about the possibility of him playing for 30 minutes. He's a player that likes to play," said the Barca boss. "He's not focused on breaking the record that everyone is talking about, if that were the case he would have played against Alaves (in the Copa del Rey last week) and the full 90 minutes against Benfica. "Playing is part of his physical training." Vilanova was adamant he would not change the way Messi was handled. "Should we sub him out every time we're leading 3-0 in case he picks up an injury?" he added. "We've never behaved this way. I'd make the same decision (to play him) seeing that he can get injured at any moment." Vilanova made a host of changes for last night's match, several of them enforced, but Messi's apparent let-off was not the only good news on the injury front this morning. Andres Iniesta, Alexis Sanchez, Jordi Alba and Dani Alves all took part in training with the rest of the squad, while Eric Abidal was able to return to the field for lighter workouts. Barca could now face the likes of Porto, Arsenal, AC Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray in the Champions League round of 16, although Vilanova does not have a preference. "Whoever we play against will be a big team," he said. "The round of 16 is always complicated. "We did what we had to do, we wanted to finish first and have that small advantage of playing the return leg at home."