MADRID: Barcelona coach Luis Enrique admitted it is impossible to replace Lionel Messi as the European champions face up to living without the four-time World Player of the Year for up to eight weeks.
Messi suffered a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his left knee during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Las Palmas and looks set to miss Barca’s next eight games.
“Thank you all for your supportive messages. For anyone who loves football, the hardest thing is not to be on the pitch. Now it’s time to recover properly to come back,” Messi posted on his official Facebook page on Monday.
“A player like Leo is irreplaceable,” Luis Enrique said on Monday ahead of his side’s return to Champions League action at home to Bayer Leverkusen today.
“In pre-season none of Leo, Neymar or (Luis) Suarez played, but our idea of how to play didn’t change. It is a challenge for us to be without the best player in the world, but it also provides an incentive for us.”
Messi is expected to miss La Liga games against Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano, Eibar, Getafe and Villarreal, as well as Leverkusen’s visit and two clashes with BATE Borisov in the Champions League.
However, Luis Enrique is confident the 28-year-old will be fit for Barca’s first meeting with Real Madrid this season on November 21 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“Leo came in yesterday for the medical check-up and he looked good, he was in high spirits,” added the coach.
Midfielder Ivan Rakitic is also hopeful that Messi’s absence will act as a spur for his teammates to take more responsiblity in the coming weeks.
“Messi’s injury affects us a lot. It hurts not to have the best player in the world, but it also serves as motivation to win the games for him,” said the Croatian international.
“We hope he returns as soon as possible.”
Barca were held to a 1-1 draw in their first Champions League game of the campaign away at Roma a fortnight ago and Luis Enrique insisted it is imperative they get all three points against group leaders Leverkusen at the Camp Nou.
“I don’t know if Leo’s absence will be a boost for Leverkusen, but for us it is a key game against one of the strongest opponents in the group.
“They are a very intense team, they defend and press well and physically they are very strong. I am sure they will cause us a lot of problems.”
Despite the body-blow of Messi’s absence, there is some good news on the injury front for Barca as both goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and left-back Jordi Alba trained on Monday and are expected to be available for selection.
Meanwhile, Barcelona’s Argentina international Javier Mascherano has been charged with two counts of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of a total of more than $1.67m, the public prosecutor said on Monday.
Mascherano, who joined Barca from English club Liverpool in August 2010, is alleged to have sought to conceal earnings from his image rights by using companies set up in the United States and Portugal, the prosecutor’s office said.
The 31-year-old is accused of defrauding the authorities of 587,822.01 euros ($656,420.84) in 2011 and 968,907.76 in 2012, they added.
Mascherano, who made no immediate public comment on the charges, this month paid the money owed plus almost 200,000 euros interest, the office said, and local media reported this could work in his favour if he is found guilty.
Barca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mascherano is the latest high-profile soccer player to be accused of tax fraud following the likes of his Barcelona and Argentina team mate Lionel Messi, who has been caught up in a similar case involving earnings from image rights.
Messi and his father were accused of defrauding the Spanish state of more than 4 million euros by filing false returns for the years 2006 to 2009. They have denied wrongdoing.
Another Barca player, Brazil forward Neymar, has been named in a lawsuit filed by investment fund DIS that alleges it was the victim of a fraud perpetrated in the signing of the player from Santos in 2013.
Agencies
