Lionel Messi Must Learn to Live Without Barcelona Veteran Xavi Hernandez

Lionel Messi is said to feel more comfortable when Xavi Hernandez is on the pitch, but the Barcelona No. 10 needs to get used to life without the veteran midfielder.

Sport's Javier Miguel wrote about how Messi asked to have Xavi back in the team after his side's 0-0 draw away against Malaga, at La Rosaleda.

Sergio Camacho/Getty Images

Barcelona looked somewhat toothless in that clash, the first game this season in which they did not win.

Xavi was left on the bench as Messi and Co. struggled to break the deadlock on a stifling Andalusian night. Miguel wrote:

"

Messi ended the game disappointed and frustrated—for the first time in his career he was unable to create room or have one dangerous moment.

It was a game to forget individually, but also for the collective. In fact, the game against Malaga disrupted Barcelona's winning rhythm under Luis Enrique. They'd won all their previous games.

Messi decided the moment had come to speak to his new manager about his discomfort at not having a player like Xavi in the side. He considers the 34-year-old the player that knows him best; the player that he connects with better than any other on the pitch.

Luis Enrique took note of Messi's view, although he didn't make any promises. However, Xavi did play the next four league matches after the draw with Malaga, offering more versatility to Barca's play and combining well with Messi, who was back somewhere near his best.

"

It's obvious why Xavi and Messi are a good combination. The Argentine is a genius, and the closest thing anyone can get to his wavelength is Xavi's brilliant passing.

A famous Barcelona goal combination is the Spanish midfielder cleverly playing in Dani Alves down the right, who lays the ball across for Messi to finish.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Both Xavi and Alves have slowly declined over the past two years, which means that collaboration has been seen less in recent times, than it was in the club's heyday under Pep Guardiola.

There's no reason that Barcelona shouldn't continue to benefit from the Xavi-Messi partnership, but Messi must also learn how to combine with players like Ivan Rakitic.

The Croat plays in a very different style, far more direct, more risky and more combative, but one which could be good for Barcelona in games where they face a tough and tenacious opposition midfield.

Xavi himself admits that his playing days will soon be coming to an end. He told Sport: "I don't have long left to play. I'm already 34 and in January I will turn 35. I want to enjoy this phase the most—everyone says it is the best.

"And after that we will see. But I would like to keep my links with football and with Barca."

There has been a small correlation between games that Xavi has played in and how well Messi himself has played this season.

That didn't work in the Clasico, in which both players featured and neither impressed, on a drab afternoon for Barcelona in the Spanish capital.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Rakitic may have been the better choice to face Real Madrid, although after his poor showing against Paris Saint-Germain, few could blame Luis Enrique for going with the tried and trusted Xavi.

However, the time is coming soon when the winds of change, which saw a minor clear-out this summer, sweep back around for another push at Barcelona.

By the time Xavi goes, be it this summer or more likely in 2016, when his contract expires, Messi needs to be fully comfortable playing without the midfield maestro.