Ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League fixture against Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic feels that the absence of Lionel Messi will be a big blow for the team, though emphasising that Luis Suarez remains a focal point of the team’s attack.
Messi suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s league clash against Las Palmas and has been ruled out for up to eight weeks, meaning that he will miss tomorrow’s Champions League fixture against the German side as well as both games against BATE Borisov.
Rakitic, who joined the Catalan outfit last year from Sevilla and went on to play a pivotal role in his new club’s triumphant march to a treble of the league title, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey last term, has said that Messi’s absence is indeed a big blow for the team.
“It’s clear that this is a blow”, the Croatia international was quoted as saying by AS.
“It hurts us not to have the best player in the world playing. We want to win for him. We all want to play so his absence opens a door for others.
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“Leo not playing changes things but not our level of confidence.
"We hope that Leo recovers as soon as possible.”
The midfielder further added that the absence of the Argentine doesn’t change Suarez’s role in the team and the Uruguayan remains a focal point in attack.
“Luis’ importance won’t change just because Leo is out.
“He’s a focal point of the team for us and helps us greatly in defence.”
