Luis Enrique: Barca obviously miss Messi a great deal

Luis Enrique accepts Barcelona miss Lionel Messi but believes results have curbed talk of a dependence on the Argentina forward.

Barca claimed a routine 3-0 win over BATE in the Champions League on Wednesday, a 30th-minute penalty from Neymar and Luis Suarez’s goal on the hour mark putting the hosts in command at Camp Nou before the latter added his second seven minutes from time,

The Catalan club lead Group E with 10 points from four games and need only a point against Roma on November 24 to ensure a place in the last 16.

Messi’s knee injury suffered on September 26 in a 2-1 victory over Las Palmas has had little impact on Barca’s form, with the defending Spanish and European champions losing only one of the eight games he has missed.

Luis Enrique said: “We obviously miss Messi a great deal, but I have always said the team had resources.

“There is no mention of Messidependencia [dependence on Messi] because the team is winning and playing well.”