Lionel Messi and Barcelona have had a gruelling season, one where they managed to win the double and almost went through the entire league season without a loss.
A UCL quarter-final exit against Rome was the lowest point in the season as they were in comfortable position after the conclusion of the 1st leg.
However, Valverde would be proud of Barca’s season and is now looking to manage the workload of his players with the World Cup looming large.
Barcelona play their final league game of the season tonight against Real Sociedad and Valverde has revealed that Messi could be rested for the game because of the long, gruelling season.
This news for Valverde means that Messi will sit out, or maybe start on the bench in Iniesta’s final game.
“He has played a lot of minutes and picked up the odd injury and played games while being injured,” Valverde said.
“In the final stretch of the season we feel it’s the right time to rest him. The other day he played 15 minutes in South Africa for contractual reasons but tomorrow the plan is for him to rest.” he added.
Messi has played a 53 games for Barcelona in the entire season across all competitions and thus Valverde wants him to rest before the biggest footballing extravangza in Russia begins.
Valverde would want Messi to be on the pitch when Iniesta plays his final minutes and thus might sub him on during the 2nd half.
Tonight’s game promises to be en emotional one for Barcelona fans as Iniesta will bid farewell.
