No Messi, no problem
> … as Barca cruise past Inter to set up Real Clasico
RAFINHA REPLACED Lionel Messi and helped Barcelona win without him as the Brazilian scored the opener in a 2-0 Champions League victory over Inter Milan yesterday.
With Messi out for three weeks and Real Madrid next up at the Nou Camp on Sunday, the question was whether Barca could cope minus their star player and captain.
The answer may not have been resounding – they lacked some punch before Jordi Alba added a late second –but this controlled performance will certainly send them into the Clasico with a spring in their step.
“We needed to step up given the absence of Leo,” Ernesto Valverde said. “It was in the head of us all.”
Luis Suarez, Arthur Melo and Philippe Coutinho were all excellent in his absence.
Victory all-but secures Barcelona’s passage to the Champions League last 16 too. They have nine points from three games and now sit top of Group B.
Messi was watching in the stands with his son Ciro and his fractured right arm in a sling. As soon as the ball left the centre circle, the fans sang his name.
Barca had drawn with Athletic Bilbao in the only other match this season he had not started, and that could have been a defeat were it not for him setting up the equaliser.
Even the club had posted an article on its website this week entitled “no need to panic”, detailing their “not so bad” record without him.
“We always try to play like a team,” Valverde said.
“We have a certain style, then Messi gives us a touch of brilliance that is extraordinary. When he is not there we have to supply it in some other way.”
“Messi would have given us even more problems,” Inter coach Luciano Spalletti said. “Even so they gave us a lot.”
Sunday’s Clasico could spell the end of the line for Los Blancos coach Julen Lopetegui.
The Spaniard has endured a torrid time at the helm of Real Madrid in what is becoming a nightmare year, following his dismissal by Spain on the eve of the World Cup after he agreed to take the job at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Lopetegui’s Madrid are seventh after nine games, just four points behind leaders Barcelona, but after an eight- hour goal drought tensions are frayed in the Spanish capital and it is said that a bad result at the Nou Camp will result in his dismissal.
“Lopetegui will sit on the bench at Camp Nou as normal,” Madrid’s director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueno said.
“In these kind of situations, it is important to remain calm and trust the players. Sunday’s game is a great motivation for us.
“(Speculation) is normal. This is football. We have heard the rumours, but we have confidence and hopefully we will play well at Camp Nou.”
Although Butragueno guaranteed Lopetegui would remain in charge until the showdown between the archrivals, the coach’s prospects for continuing beyond that seem bleak if he cannot secure a victory.
This is the first Clasico for 11 years which will not feature at least one of world football’s most recent greats, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I’m very happy for starting, for feeling good, for the win, for the goal and the motivation,” said Rafinha.
“The result gives us a lot of confidence and as always we will go for everything on Sunday.
“We’re happy with the game, against a team who was always going to make things difficult for us, we played really well.”
The weekend’s other fixtures are Valladolid vs Espanyol, Girona vs Rayo Vallecano, Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia, Celta Vigo vs Eibar, Levante vs Leganes, Atletico Madrid vs Real Sociedad, Getafe vs Real Betis, Alaves vs Villarreal and Sevilla vs Huesca. – AFP/dpa