Tuesday, 12th November, 2013
Barcelona director Toni Freixa has admitted that losing Lionel Messi to injury will make his side weaker, but insists that they have been playing top-notch football.
The Argentina international suffered a muscle tear in his left hamstring in the Spanish champions’ 4-1 rout of Real Betis on Sunday.
The injury will keep the forward out of action for up to two months thereby ruling him out for the remainder of the year.
And Freixa has acknowledged the fact that Barcelona are Messi-centric, but feels his side will continue putting in impressive displays during the prolific goalscorer’s absence.
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“The team are always ‘Messi-dependent’ because it is impossible not to be with the best player in the world”, he told reporters.
“People talk about it like it is something bad but it is a good thing. So in that regard, yes we are weaker; we need to have other assets and just now they are functioning.
“We are still Messi-dependent, because the best in the world always makes a difference, but the team are performing at a top level.”
It is the third leg injury of the season for Messi, who has scored 14 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona in the current campaign.
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