Barcelona boss Luis Enrique insisted his decision to remove Lionel Messi at half-time of the European champions’ 6-0 thrashing of 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Sunday was merely a precaution.
Messi paraded his record fifth Ballon d’Or to the Barca fans before kick-off and opened the scoring from the penalty spot just three minutes in. “We have to wait and see what the tests say, but it was a slight strain and we preferred not to risk it,” said Enrique.
Should Barca beat Athletic in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday their early 2016 schedule will see them due to play 17 matches by the end of February alone.
“We spoke and it didn’t make any sense to risk it at 2-0 and with all that we have to come,” added Enrique.
