Barça must get used to winning without Messi - Rivaldo

Former Barcelona star Rivaldo praised the team's 4-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Messi's absence.

Ronald Koeman had rested Messi for the last Champions League game. This action is because the Argentine superstar is highly prepared to continue the season and be fresh in crucial matches. With this solution, Messi's absence did not affect Barca's performance, and they were able to defeat their opponent with four goals.

Messi's absence may soon become a regular occurrence for Barça. His contract will expire at the end of the season, and he will be allowed to negotiate with other clubs from January. Given the events that took place last summer, the possibility of his separation is very high.

Rivaldo has previously claimed that Messi will not leave the team, but recent events have changed his mind. However, he believes that Barça's victories in Messi's absence will help the team a lot.

“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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