Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other coaches who have criticized the crowded European fixture schedule after he decided to rest his star Lionel Messi in the Champions League confrontation with Dynamo Kiev.

Barcelona lost the efforts of Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto, after suffering serious injuries during the 0-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Spanish League on Saturday, leaving only three defenders in the first team to face Dynamo Kiev.

And while the defeat against Atlético was the worst start for Barcelona in a season in the Spanish League in 29 years, the Catalan giants are going strong in the Champions League, after having achieved three wins from three matches in Group G, and if they beat Dynamo Kiev, they will reserve their place in the round of 16. .

Koeman said in a press conference on the eve of the Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev match, scheduled for Tuesday in the fourth round of the group stage of the Champions League, that his team’s strong position in Group G prompted him to rest Messi and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, but he also criticized the crowded match schedule, calling The International Federation of Football Associations "FIFA", the European Union for the game "UEFA" to intervene.

The Dutch coach added: "Sometimes you need to protect players because the match schedule is unbelievable ... We are in a good position to comfort Messi and Frenkie because most of the players fought all the matches with us as they played with their national teams ... and Messi faced an arduous return journey from South America (after Playing for his country (Argentina).

The busy European fixtures schedule has come under increasing criticism recently, after sports were hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Reuters

By:Nadeemy Haded