Barcelona legend Rivaldo has warned the club they must start facing the reality of winning games without captain Lionel Messi.
Rivaldo was delighted to see Barcelona stroll to a 4-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv without Lionel Messi in their ranks. His reason being that the Argentine maestro might be gone from the club for good soon enough.
Over the past few weeks, Ronald Koeman has given the club captain occasional rests. That approach is intended to keep the six-time Ballon d’Or winner fresh and firing for when he is needed the most.
From another perspective, the ‘absence’ of Messi can also be an insight into what life could be at Barcelona should he depart the club.
That could be on the cards next summer with La Pulga now allowed to speak to new clubs over a transfer starting January.
Rivaldo is among many who feel Messi can be convinced to stay at the club. However, things are starting to look like the Argentine wants out of the Camp Nou.
With that in mind, the club must start ‘preparing’ for life after their present captain.
“Barcelona earned a good away win in the Champions League in Ukraine with a solid performance despite Lionel Messi’s absence and that is good news for the group,” Rivaldo told Betfair.
“The team played a better match against Dynamo Kiev this time than when they hosted them at Camp Nou, so it was a result and performance positive for two reasons: Messi managed to rest after international commitments and other players like Antoine Griezmann or Martin Braithwaite had the chance to step up.”
“In other parts of the season – and probably next season – Messi might not be around and other players will need to show up, so it’s good for the team to start getting used to it and at the same time gain some confidence for themselves without their main star on the pitch.”
“Naturally, I’m sure Ronald Koeman only left Messi out of this game to rest him because it wasn’t a decisive match as Barcelona had almost qualified. If I was Barcelona manager I would like to have Messi on the pitch all the time.”
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