BARCELONA VS LEVERKUSEN: WHAT THEY SAID

Ahead of their crunch clash with bayer leverkusen, Coach Luis Enrique and Midfielder Ivan Rakitic expressed their thoughts on the game.

Enrique: "Bayer defend very well. They come forward with pace. They're going to cause a lot of problems for us."

"A player like Lionel Messi is irreplacable."

"So...You're going to just keep asking about this one subject [Messi]."

"Jordi Alba and Claudio Bravo trained today. In theory, they're ready to play."

"We are reviewing our style of play, & always analyze our game. We want to improve in every phase of the match."

"Rotation Policy? I can't say anything about this yet but i will keep picking the goalkeeper that will be best for the team."

"Leo had tests yesterday, he looked fine, cheerful. He's already two days closer to his comeback." 

"Before Bravo can go in goal he has to go in the squad"

"Javier? No doubt he is a very good signing, more opportunities, a very skillful player and a hard fighter."

"Adriano? Didn't train today because he had some discomfort at end of game on Saturday. We hope he's available tomorrow."

"Changing system? We are looking into that every week. Neymar needs to take a step forward? No, he needs to do the same."

Rakitic: "I know Bayer well, they're a strong team."

"We want to win for #Messi. We'll fight together."

"We want to win our games for Messi, and we want to do it playing well. We will be united and fight together."

"Leo is looking fine - smiling, which is the most important thing. He's very motivated to start his recovery."

"The most important is to keep winning, the goals will come soon enough."

"We've been conceding many goals, but we've analyzed it and the goalkeeper is not to blame. We have total confidence in Marc."

Enrique “In the UCL group stage every error can cost you a lot. We have to be very careful. If it turns out that the game will be end-to-end but we win with a good result, I wouldn’t mind. But what I want my team to do is fully control the game.” 

“Leverkusen is a very intense team, they press excellently, defend very well. The idea is to play the best game we possibly can. Chicharito is a player that gives Leverkusen more options in attack, he has a good technique and he’s a fighter.”

“Rotations of the GKs? I have the same idea I did last season, but you never know what might happen. Right now we’re not in our best form in terms of scoring, but I’m not worried about that.”

“Neymar playing as a second striker or as a 9? I’ve seen him there for his NT. Maybe it’s an option we’d consider, maybe not. We think about changing the system every week, we have to make the team as strong as possible with the players we have.”

“Leo Messi is irreplaceable. But his absence is an exciting challenge. I hope everyone gives the best version of themselves, individually and collectively.”

“I won’t ask a player to do more in order to make up for Messi’s absence. Neymar, Suárez and Iniesta have to keep playing great as themselves. They don’t need to do something extra.”

“Not winning vs Roma gives this game a bigger importance. If you want to win the group, you have to win at home. After every game we see what we have to improve, we’re aware of what we’ve done so far.”