Rivaldo: I don't have much confidence in Barça in Champions League

Former Barcelona forward Rivaldo, speaking in his role as Betfair ambassador, says he has little faith that the Catalans will go far in the Champions League this season. The Brazilian has also spoken about the Clasico penalty, president Josep Maria Bartomeu's resignation and Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

BARÇA IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

"There's a long way to go this season but so far I haven't seen the classic Barcelona of old. I don't have much confidence in this team and think they aren't showing enough chemistry to fight for the Champions League title," he said. 

"They can battle for La Liga with Real and Atletico Madrid because they still have great players and a big aura in Spain, but I'm not so confident about Barca's chances among Europe's elite." 

THE RESIGNATION OF BARTOMEU

On Bartomeu stepping down, he added: "The uncertainty around the future of Josep Bartomeu, who resigned as Barcelona president last night, was causing instability at the club. In the end, it became inevitable that he had to step down. There were so many critics, I believe it was the right decision to finally solve the situation and let the club go forward.

"I'm sure Bartomeu wanted the best for the club, but it was a good decision to face the situation once and for all by quitting. The club needs stability and the focus must return to the football, the longer this process continued the worst it would have been for the club. Now we can all look to the future and the football." 

CLÁSICO CONTROVERSY 

As for the penalty awarded for Clement Lenglet's shirt pull on Sergio Ramos in the Clasico, Rivaldo said: "There was plenty of discussion about Madrid's VAR penalty in El Clasico. As I've said before, I'm against VAR because of its lack of clarity and consistency.

"In this case, it was tough to say if it was a penalty or not, but we've been seeing many mistakes around the world, including in the Champions League, that shouldn't be occurring.

"The purpose of VAR was to cut out the mistakes, but we are not seeing as many right decisions as we were expecting and that's sad. It is not adding value to football.

CRISTIANO & MESSI

Juventus striker Ronaldo will miss Wednesday's game against Barça but Rivaldo said: "I believe Messi and Ronaldo will face each other another time, either when Juve travel to Camp Nou in a few weeks or in a possible international friendly between Argentina and Portugal.

"Another factor that makes me confident about more reunions between the two greats could be their longevity. Just like me, Messi and Ronaldo seem to enjoy it a lot when they are on the pitch and neither of sustain many injuries. I wouldn't be surprised if both can still play at 40-years old, and if that's the case I'm sure we'll see them meeting again.

"Instead of most players who retired and went on to miss playing football a lot, I played right up to my limit, so that I didn't miss football too much once I retired. I think Messi and Ronaldo can do similar while their legs hold up and they can continue to amaze us a bit more."