Piqué: "Barcelona can cope without Messi"
Barcelona players Gerard Piqué and Ivan Rakitic discussed Lionel Messi's fractured arm injury following Saturday's 4-2 home win over Sevilla.
Gerard Piqué acknowledged the absence of Lionel Messi will be a blow but insisted Barcelona can cope without their superstar captain. Messi will miss three weeks with a fractured arm after suffering the injury in Barça's 4-2 win over Sevilla in Saturday's top-of-the-table LaLiga clash.
Messi out for three weeks
After setting up team-mate Philippe Coutinho and scoring himself, five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi landed heavily on his right arm before leaving the field in the first half at Camp Nou. Messi will sit out next weekend's Clásico against Real Madrid, as well as both of Barça's Champions League fixtures against Inter Milan.
"Psychologically we know that when he is there we are stronger but we cannot allow his absence to affect us," Piqué said. "It makes a big difference to have or not to have him but we have enough cover so as not to worry about whether he is there or not."
Messi has scored seven LaLiga goals for the Spanish champions this season and 12 in all competitions. "We will try to make sure Leo's absence is noticed as little as possible," Ivan Rakitic added.