Rivaldo: Messi might not be around and other players need to show up

Former Barcelona forward Rivaldo has told Betfair other players need to show up because Lionel Messi will not always be around. 

Rivaldo was impressed with Barça's 4-0 win in the Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev -- which Messi was rested for -- and challenged those that performed to keep on delivering. 

"Barcelona earned a good away win in the Champions League in Ukraine with a solid performance despite Lionel Messi's absence and that is good news for the group," Rivaldo said. 

"The team played a better match against Dynamo Kiev this time than when they hosted them at Camp Nou, so it was a result and performance that was positive for two reasons: Messi managed to rest after international commitments and other players like Antoine Griezmann or Martin Braitwhaite had the chance to step up.

"In other parts of the season - and probably next season - Messi might not be around and other players will need to show up, so it's good for the team to start getting used to it and at the same time gain some confidence for themselves without their main star on the pitch.

"Naturally, I'm sure Ronald Koeman only left Messi out of this game to rest him because it wasn't a decisive match as Barcelona had almost qualified. If I was Barcelona manager I would like to have Messi on the pitch all the time."