Lionel Messi has been left out of Barcelona’s squad to play Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Champions League.
According to Ronald Koeman, the Argentine had been rested alongside Frenkie de Jong for the trip to Ukraine, with the Catalans already in a strong position to qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition.
Speaking ahead of the game, Koeman said: “We’ve got various players out due to injuries and we’ve decided that we won’t be taking Leo or Frankie because the situation in the Champions League is quite comfortable for us with the nine points that we’ve got.
“And these two players need to rest because they’ve played a lot of matches. So we think this is a good moment to rest them.”
Barca have enjoyed a very good start in the UEFA Champions League this season, winning their opening three games against Ferencvaros, Juventus and Dynamo. Their fortunes have been quite the opposite in La Liga though having only managed to win three out of their opening eight matches, leaving them in 12th.
Without Messi and de Jong however, they are still hugely fancied to win against Dynamo on Tuesday evening. Koeman’s men can be backed at a price of 4/6 with William Hill to earn victory.
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