Barcelona faced a tragic loss last night in the first leg quarterfinal of the Copa del Rey against Sevilla by 2-0. But, his teammate Luis Suarez says his absence from the squad could not be an excuse for the Catalan side. Pablo Sarabia scored the opener for Sevilla in the 58th minute and then Wissam Ben Yedder sealed the victory for the side in the 76th minute.
Lionel Messi helped his side to secure a much-needed victory in La Liga against Leganes this weekend. And, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde gave him a rest day as he is now primarily eyeing on the UEFA Champions League match against Lyon next month. On 20th February, Lionel Messi’s side will visit Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
🏁 Full time.
💪 Next week Wednesday 30 January, 21.30 CET, we have the opportunity to come back.
🏆 #CopaBarça pic.twitter.com/D8ZdFWcclM— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 23, 2019
Valverde tried his best to recover at the second half as he sent Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho, and Jordi Alba on the ground as a substitute. However, all efforts went in vain as Sevilla secured their Copa del Rey victory. Barcelona played eight games till now this season without Lionel Messi and faced the defeat twice.
While talking about the absence of the Argentine star from the squad, Luis Suarez said “Leo was not in other games and we took over the responsibility of the team and we took the games forward,” and then further added “Today it was not an excuse, I hope Leo is in the second leg because it makes a difference.”
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The Uruguayan international also talked about their future plans and said “The month of January is the most complicated of all, the cup is important but getting points in the league is an extra. And we must also think about the future of the Champions League.” He then also added, “We have plenty of players and spare enough to overcome.”
Gerard Pique also gave his views on that matter and said “We have a very competitive squad and the coach wants us all to participate,” and added, “The performance has been good but they have taken advantage of their chances.” The Barcelona defender further said “Messi in the return? It’s the decision of the coach.”
