Luis Enrique: 'Lionel Messi injury affects Barcelona style'

By Tom Nightingale, Reporter | 27 September 2015

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says that his team will cope without Lionel Messi, but admits that the Argentine's injury will see them lose a lot from their style of play.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has admitted that coping with the absence of Lionel Messi may enforce a change of style from his side.

Messi is expected to miss up to two months after he suffered a knee ligament injury in Barca's 2-1 win over Las Palmas on Saturday.

His boss is adamant that the club have the means to cope with the loss of the Argentine, but admits that it may provoke some alterations to the way that they play in the next eight weeks.

"It is always sad when a player is injured. In the case of Messi it is not necessary for me to say what we all know: that he is very important to the team," he told Sky Sports News.

"Without Messi we lose a lot of things from our style of play so we will now have to rearrange collectively but I have no doubt that we will overcome this.

"This team will cope fine and will deal with this. It is capable of doing so well because it has personality and courage. It can be seen as a test and a stimulus."

Barca face Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou in their second Champions League group stage game on Tuesday night.