Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has decided to leave out Lionel Messi from Tuesday’s Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv which he says is a precautionary step.
This was disclosed by Koeman in his press conference on Monday where he announced his 19-man squad.
Messi and midfielder Frenkie de Jong have been dropped because they are in a good position in their group but are struggling in 12th place in LaLiga.
Messi played the full 90 minutes of Barca’s 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Saturday but was not included in the list of players who will travel to Ukraine for the Group G match.
The club cannot afford another injury after Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto joined Ansu Fati and Samuel Umtiti in the long-term absentee list.