In The End, Koeman Will Give Up On Messi Too

Ronald Koeman and Lionel Messi (Photo: MARCA)

JAKARTA - Lionel Messi has played every minute of Barcelona's eight matches so far this season. The Argentine played the full 90 minutes in each of Los Blaugrana's six La Liga matches and two in the Champions League.

That means the 33-year-old has played a total of 720 minutes in the first two months of the season, excluding the games he played with Argentina during the October international break.

It's not that Ronald Koeman didn't have a chance to rest his captain, but that he chose not to. Barcelona won matches against Villarreal, Celta Vigo and Ferancvaros quite comfortably, but Messi was not substituted in either of those games.

Since recovering from a muscle injury in October 2019, Messi has missed only two competitive matches for Barcelona - one Copa del Rey and one in the Champions League where the Catalan club have qualified in their group.

On Wednesday, Barcelona host Dinamo Kiev in the Champions League at the Camp Nou. If the Blaugrana were leading the game comfortably at the last minute, Koeman could decide to give Messi his first break of the season.

The Dutch coach will definitely think about how to give his captain a break. Because Barca's match schedule is very tight.

Messi will return to South America in November for Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru. This means that Koeman will somehow give up his insistence on continuing to play Messi.