Busquets: Barcelona can win the Champions League without Messi

Lionel Messi

Barcelona as a free agent earlier this summer. The Catalans were on the verge of signing a new deal with the six-time Balon d’Or winner, but the club’s financial problems prevented them from registering the contract.

The Barcelona legend joined PSG to start a new chapter in his career, but many observers suggest that Barcelona will not be able to recover from his departure any time soon.

Ahead of his side’s Champions League clash against Bayern Munich on Tuesday,

Sergio Busquets

says the Blaugrana are still able to compete for the Champions League trophy.

"It was a shock, for everything that Leo gave to Barca and personally to me,”

the Spaniard told reporters.

"It was an accumulation of emotions that were difficult to digest, but we have to try to change the story. We are at the beginning of the season and we'll have to get used to playing without Leo."

He added:

"Anything can happen in football. Chelsea won the Champions League last season and were not favourites.

"The important thing is the collective level and we know that we do not have Leo or his individual qualities. We are here, excited and aware of the difficulty, but we have a lot of ambition and we want to win."

In addition to Bayern, Barcelona will play against

Benfica

and

Dynamo Kyiv

in the group stage of the Champions League.

After their match against the Bundesliga champions, Barcelona will continue their La Liga campaign with a match against Granada on September 20.

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