90min

Barcelona Leave Lionel Messi Out of Squad to Face Dynamo Kyiv

By Jamie Spencer

Barcelona want to rest Lionel Messi
Barcelona want to rest Lionel Messi / Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
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Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been left out of the club’s 19-man squad for this week’s Champions League trip to Ukraine to face Dynamo Kyiv in order to rest.

Messi has missed only 45 minutes this season and, despite a laboured start to the 2020/21 campaign in La Liga, Barca have taken maximum points from their three Champions League games so far and are on the brink of securing progress to the knockout stages of the competition.

Messi has helped Barca into a comfortable Champions League position
Messi has helped Barca into a comfortable Champions League position / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Messi has also flown back and forth from South America twice in the last six weeks for international duty, playing 90 minutes in four World Cup qualifiers for Argentina.

Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been an ever-present so far, playing 90 minutes of all 11 games across all competitions, and is also being rested for the Dynamo game.

“We have decided not to take Messi or De Jong because the Champions League game is more comfortable because of the points and they need a break,” coach Ronald Koeman explained to the media once the squad list was announced.

Frenkie de Jong is also being rested
Frenkie de Jong is also being rested / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

But injuries to a number of other first-team players also mean it is a largely inexperienced group, with Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati and Ronald Araujo missing. Pique, Roberto and Fati are all long-term absentees.

19-man Barcelona Squad vs Dynamo Kviv

Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Neto, Inaki Pena.

Defenders: Sergino Dest, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Junior Firpo, Oscar Mingueza.

Midfielders: Carles Alena, Miralem Pjanic, Riqui Puig, Philippe Coutinho, Pedri, Matheus Fernandes.

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele, Francisco Trincao, Konrad de la Fuente.

Konrad de la Fuente has been called into the first-team
Konrad de la Fuente has been called into the first-team / Alex Caparros/Getty Images

Just a point in Kyiv could be enough to secure Barca’s progress to the next last 16 of the Champions League with two group games to spare. The Catalans won 2-0 in Turin against Juventus last month and would be favourites to also top the group and be seeded in the next round.

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