Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde refused to excuse his side’s dependence on Lionel Messi after the Argentina international came off the bench to spark a dramatic late comeback against Villarreal. Trailing 4-2 in the 90th minute, Messi fired home a free-kick before Luis Suarez equalised with the last kick of the game. Valverde had chosen to rest Messi ahead of Saturday’s visit of second-placed Atletico Madrid, which is followed by a Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United. “Of course there is ‘Messidependence’,” Valverde told a press conference. “It’s very big because we were losing and now we will face Saturday’s game with another sensation, of having come back from two goals in the last minutes.

Source: The Irish Times April 03, 2019 05:37 UTC