Koeman relieves Messi: “We must protect him”

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman joined other coaches who criticized the crowded European match schedule, after he decided to rest Lionel Messi in the Champions League confrontation with Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.

Barcelona lost the efforts of Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto after suffering injuries in Saturday’s game, which the Catalan club lost 0-1 to Atlético Madrid in the League, leaving only three defenders in the first team for the Ukraine trip.

And while the loss against Atletico was Barcelona’s worst start in a La Liga season in 29 years, the Catalan giants are playing hard in the Champions League after having scored three wins from three games in Group G, and if they beat Dynamo Kiev, they will reserve their place in the round of 16.
Koeman said his team’s strong position in Group G prompted him to rest Messi and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, but he also criticized the crowded fixture schedule, calling on FIFA and the European Union (UEFA) to intervene.

“Sometimes you need to protect your players, because the match schedule is unbelievable,” Koeman was quoted by Reuters as saying at a virtual press conference.

The Dutch coach added, “We are in a good position to comfort Messi and Frenkie because most of the players fought all the matches with us as they played with their national teams, and Messi faced a difficult return journey from South America (after playing with Argentina).”
The busy European fixtures schedule has come under increasing criticism recently after sports were hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic.