Barcelona are still digesting the shock of losing Lionel Messi but are not yet counting on the prospect of an unexpected clinch for the Champions League, captain Sergio Busquets said on Tuesday ahead of their meeting at home in Bayern Munich.
Bayern ended Barca’s worst European defeat to date a little more than a year ago, when they beat the Catalans 8–2 in the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 competition, prompting Messi to quit earlier. announced.
Messi’s departure for Paris Saint-Germain came a year later due to the club’s enormous financial problems, despite the player preparing to go back on his pledge to leave and take a 50% pay cut.
“It was a shock considering everything Leo has done for Barca and me,” midfielder Busquets said in a virtual news conference on Monday.
“We felt many sensations which were difficult to digest but we have to try and move on. We are only at the beginning of the season and we have to get used to playing without Leo.”
Barca have undergone radical changes since that seismic defeat by Bayern in 2020, not only with Messi, but also with Luis Suarez, hapless coach Quique Setien and then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The Busquets acknowledged that they were deeply affected by the humiliating defeat, but emphasized that the team has made progress under coach Ronald Koeman.
“It was hard to accept, but football is like that. Some time has passed and we are confident that things will be different.”
Barca suffered their first Champions League exit in 14 years after they were ousted by PSG in the last 16 seasons and Messi’s departure has further dented hopes in Europe’s top competition.
But Busquets said the club was headed in the right direction under Koeman’s leadership.
“We had to deal with some difficult situations last year with a lot of changes at all levels of the club and he (Koman) was brought here to make those changes and it has had a big impact,” he added.
“Anything can happen in football. Chelsea won the competition last season when they were not the favorites at the start.
“The important thing is how we are as a collective and now we know we don’t have Leo nor his individual talent. We are excited and aware of the difficulty but we are very ambitious and we want to win. Huh.”
Barca have seven points from three matches in LaLiga and enjoyed the weekend as Saturday’s match with Sevilla was postponed due to the late return of South American players from the World Cup qualifiers.
Bayern have 10 points from their first four Bundesliga games and have scored 12 goals in their last three matches in a 4-1 win at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
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