Barcelona are nonetheless digesting the shock of shedding Lionel Messi however are usually not but relying on the prospect of an surprising clinch for the Champions League, captain Sergio Busquets stated on Tuesday forward of their assembly at house in Bayern Munich.
Bayern ended Barca’s worst European defeat thus far just a little greater than a yr in the past, after they beat the Catalans 8–2 within the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 competitors, leaving Messi along with his intentions to give up earlier. introduced.
Messi’s departure for Paris Saint-Germain got here a yr later as a result of membership’s monumental monetary issues, regardless of the participant backing down on his pledge to go away and making ready for a 50 p.c pay reduce.
“It was a shock considering everything Leo has done for Barca and me,” midfielder Busquets advised a digital information convention on Monday.
“We felt many sensations which had been tough to digest however we’ve got to try to transfer on. We are simply firstly of the season and we’ve got to get used to enjoying with out Leo.”
Barca have undergone radical modifications since that seismic defeat by Bayern in 2020, not solely with Messi, but in addition with Luis Suarez, hapless coach Quique Setien and then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The Busquets acknowledged that they had been deeply affected by the humiliating defeat, however emphasised that the staff has made progress below coach Ronald Koeman.
“It was onerous to just accept, however soccer is like that. Some time has handed and we’re assured that issues will likely be completely different.”
Barca suffered their first Champions League exit in 14 years after they had been ousted by PSG within the final 16 seasons and Messi’s departure has additional dented hopes in Europe’s prime competitors.
But Busquets stated the membership was headed in the precise route below Koeman’s management.
“Last year we had to deal with some tough situations with a lot of changes at all levels of the club and he (Koman) was brought here to make those changes and it had a big impact,” he added.
“Anything can occur in soccer. Chelsea received the competitors final season after they weren’t the favorites in the beginning.
“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 factors from three matches in LaLiga and loved the weekend as Saturday’s match with Sevilla was postponed as a result of late return of South American gamers from the World Cup qualifiers.
Bayern have 10 factors from their first 4 Bundesliga video games and have scored 12 targets of their final three matches in a 4-1 win at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
