Luis Enrique Talks Lionel Messi 'Challenge,' Neymar, More in Barcelona Presser

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique says his side are treating the injury suffered by Lionel Messi as a "challenge," and he has insisted the club won't be expecting Neymar to fill the captain's void during his absence.  

Speaking to the media this week, the Blaugrana boss was accepting of the fact Messi will be seen as a major loss, but he was keen to note this wasn't Barca's first time playing without a key member of the squad, per Jordi Gil of Sport:

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We will do what we have to, clearly. A player like Messi is irreplaceable. But did you see the pre-season games? Messi and Neymar didn't play and we played with the same idea with other players, to a high level. We want to be competitive without our best player.

It's a stimulus and I think that we will be at the top level. To try and substitute him is impossible, although we should take on this game with different elements in attack and defence. Every week we consider changing the system. It's logical that every week we consider and evaluate it, each week we try to reach our main objective of becoming more powerful.

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Sky Sports confirmed the Argentina international would miss "seven to eight weeks" after tearing ligaments in his right knee during Saturday's 2-1 win over Las Palmas. 

Brazil superstar Neymar seems like the most logical choice when picking a star to make up for the attacker's lost influence, but when quizzed on the subject, Enrique was eager to deflect attention away from the player, per Gil:

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Only a journalist could ask for Neymar to improve. It's impossible for a coach to ask it. We all step forward. Neymar does Neymar, he does it well. Suarez does Suarez, he does it well. Iniesta does Iniesta, he does it well. They all take steps forward. The absences of Messi or Rafinha are stimuli, but they don't need to improve.

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Fans of the club may be inclined to disagree after watching Barca suffer a 4-1 defeat at Celta Vigo's hands just last week, even when the likes of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were fit and healthy.

The first challenge for Barcelona following Messi's injury will be Tuesday's Champions League group-stage clash against Bayer Leverkusen, and DW Sports notes the Germans will be glad the Argentinian isn't present:

It's a precarious position for last season's treble winners to find themselves in, where a good run of form will prove resources run far deeper than one man, while a poor streak will only offer the club's critics more ammunition.

Of course, Barcelona are well within their rights to exploit the talents of arguably the best player to have ever taken on the sport, but Spanish writer Sergi Dominguez outlined the make-or-break scenario Enrique is now in:

Barca supporters can rest easy in knowing Messi is sure to be doing his utmost to make a return, with Argentina national team head doctor Donato Villani quoted by Marca as saying the 28-year-old "goes nuts when he can't play."

In truth, Suarez is the one who may well bear the heaviest burden during Messi's stay on the sideline, with the striker likely to see a drop in goalscoring chances now that his prime puppeteer is out of action.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

That being said, it's a chance for the reigning European champions to prove their credentials as a collective, as opposed to being a team who has one genuine superstar and his 10 almost-as-good cohorts.

Barca are somewhat fortunate in that Messi's injury falls just prior to a fairly favourable run of fixtures, but the South American will be racing to get fit for the first El Clasico fixture against Real Madrid on November 22.