Messi was rested during Barcelona’s trip to Ukraine to face the Kiev-based club during the week, but the La Liga giants eased past Mircea Lucescu’s men without the input of the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronald Koeman has been giving Messi an occasional rest in order to keep him fresh for important games.
The future of the Argentina superstar remains unknown as he enters the final year of his contract and Rivaldo has urged his former side to start preparing for life after Messi.
“Barcelona earned a good away win in the Champions League in Ukraine with a solid performance despite Lionel Messi’s absence and that is good news for the group,” Rivaldo told Betfair.
“The team played a better match against Dynamo Kiev this time than when they hosted them at Camp Nou, so it was a result and performance positive for two reasons: Messi managed to rest after international commitments and other players like Antoine Griezmann or Martin Braithwaite had the chance to step up.”
“In other parts of the season – and probably next season – Messi might not be around and other players will need to show up, so it’s good for the team to start getting used to it and at the same time gain some confidence for themselves without their main star on the pitch.”
“Naturally, I’m sure Ronald Koeman only left Messi out of this game to rest him because it wasn’t a decisive match as Barcelona had almost qualified. If I was Barcelona manager I would like to have Messi on the pitch all the time.”
