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Luis Enrique: 'We can cope without Lionel Messi'

Barcelona can cope without injury-stricken Lionel Messi, who is facing two months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage, according to their manager Luis Enrique.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is confident that his team can cope without Lionel Messi, who is facing up to two months on the sidelines with a knee problem.

The Argentine was forced off after just 10 minutes of Barca's La Liga clash with Las Palmas on Saturday and subsequent tests revealed that the attacker had suffered ligament damage.

Enrique is aware of the size of the task facing the Catalan outfit without their leading marksman, but the Spaniard has said that his team have "many quality players".

"We'll play no differently than we do with Messi. Messi liberates us and gives us solutions, but we have to make do with what we have. We have many quality players," Enrique told reporters.

"Whenever there's an injury, it's the team who have to react. I don't like to have a single player carrying the team. This is a test and obstacle that we have to overcome.

"We accept the challenge [of playing without Messi] and what we have to do is improve our performance. It's in our hands. You gain experience from situations like this, not when everything goes smoothly. Injuries are the worst thing in football, and we know how important Messi is."

A double from Luis Suarez saw Barcelona beat Las Palmas at Camp Nou on Saturday.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona29213582285466
2Real Madrid29196462293363
3Atletico MadridAtletico29169447232457
4Athletic Bilbao291411446242253
5Villarreal28138751391247
6Real BetisBetis2913884036447
7Rayo Vallecano29101093331240
8Celta Vigo29117114242040
9Mallorca29117112835-740
10Real Sociedad29115132731-438
11Getafe2999112625136
12Sevilla2999113339-636
13GironaGirona2997133745-834
14Osasuna2971393342-934
15Valencia29710123246-1431
16Espanyol2878132740-1329
17AlavesAlaves2969143244-1227
18Leganes2969142846-1827
19Las PalmasLas Palmas2968153348-1526
20Real ValladolidValladolid2944211965-4616


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