Real Valladolid boss Sergio Gonzalez joked that Lionel Messi should plonk down on the sofa rather than strut his stuff against his side at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

With the first leg of Barca’s Champions League last 16 tie against Schalke coming up on Tuesday, it’s expected that Ernesto Valverde will field a rotated side in La Liga against Valladolid.

And Gonzalez wouldn’t mind if Messi takes a breather on Saturday, though is well aware of the quality flowing through the league leaders’ entire squad.

“Hopefully. If he wants to rest, I would tell him that the sofa is very good and I’m sure his is comfortable. If there are others who want to rest, let them, it’s no problem,” the Catalan said, according to Marca.

“I don’t know if it’s the best, but it’s one of them. That’s what I was saying, they’re all world class. It’s not just Messi anymore, it’s Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho…”

When asked if now would be the best timee to face Barcelona, given the Catalan club have drawn two league games in a row, Gonzalez responded with caution.

“It’s never a good time to visit the home of a big team, where they are stronger. They are an elite team with very few cracks. But as much as I say this, we are going there to cause problems. We are a La Liga team going to measure ourselves against another. We are aware of the difficulties but we will fight to pick up points to avoid relegation and we will try to get a positive result,” Gonzalez added.