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Former Barcelona striker Rivaldo has slammed current Barcelona manager Quique Setien of not making any sense regarding his comments on the new five substitutions rule.
Setien had said in an interview that the new rule would be harmful to his side rather than beneficial. He had pointed out that giving an opponent the power to use fresh players during the final minutes would fix their weaknesses.
"Improper excuses for Barcelona." Rivaldo does not agree with Setien
Rivaldo does not agree with Setien's comments.
"They are improper excuses for Barcelona. What Setien has said does not make any sense. Looking for excuses in a matter like this, saying that you feel hurt just because the rival has two more changes, I do not understand."
Rivaldo further went on to state that teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona should not have to wait until the end to win the game.
"Teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona are much stronger than the rest and can even easily decide matches in 45 minutes. They have tons of talent compared to the rest. Barcelona have to think about winning their matches from the start, they cannot wait in the end for the opponent to tire."
When asked about the fitness of star forward Lionel Messi, Rivaldo admitted he wasn't sure how to answer that question. Messi has had some injury issues this season.
"It is difficult to answer whether he should do it [rest in some games] or not. With the title dispute so hot, if things turn up for Barcelona, it would be interesting if he rested. It is clear that you cannot go to Messi and simply tell him to rest. He wants to win the league, the Champions League, assault the Pichichi and win the Ballon d'Or. For all that, he needs to play regularly."
When quizzed about playing without fans in stadiums, Rivaldo's answer was emphatic.
"It will be sad, but teams of Barcelona's potential should not care if there is an audience or not."
Rivaldo spent five seasons at Barcelona. He scored 130 goals in 235 appearances in all competitions during that time. He has also appeared for AC Milan and Palmeiras among other clubs during his playing career. He made 74 international appearances for the Brazilian national team, scoring a total 37 goals.
Quique Setien's Barcelona face Mallorca this weekend. Making sure that star performers like Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen are fit and firing would be of paramount importance to the club. More is expected from the big-money signings like Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong. The Catalans are only two points ahead of Real Madrid in the league table. With such a small gap between first and second, Barcelona will have to make sure that they treat each match as a final if they are to have any aspirations of winning the league.
