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The Barcelona superstar is the "best in the world", but Sevilla must also be wary of his teammates, according to Pablo Machin.
Sevilla must not allow Lionel Messi's superb record against them to distort their broader vision of Barcelona, Pablo Machin warned.
The Blaugrana superstar captain has a personal best of 33 goals in all competitions against Sevilla, who will face Saturday's tight home win in three La Liga games.
Sevilla beat Barca 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal match last month and finally collapsed against Camp Nou 6-1 after Messi's return to eleven departure.
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The 31-year-old Argentine scored 22 goals in as many La Liga games as the key figure in a match considered essential in the champions' attempt to defend their title.
"He is the best in the world and we must realize this," said Sevilla head coach, Machin.
"It's obvious, but their team is also strong Barcelona scored five goals against Real Madrid [in October] without Messi.
"It's important but the collective is even more so."
#Messi love chips
Discover his superb goal against Sevilla on @Canoe
https://t.co/gtJKXa66iA pic.twitter.com/JJhwOj7yRg– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 22, 2019
The impressive formation of Sevilla at the beginning of the season evaporated in 2019 and left the Andalusian club 17 points from first place.
They eliminated Lazio from the last 16 games of the Europa League with a 3-0 win, but Jesus Navas had a muscular problem in the last stages of the second leg on Wednesday.
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The 33-year-old is now in a race against the clock to be fit for the Barca tour, although he's included in the 18-man Machin team.
"In addition to the injured players we have already had, Navas is the biggest doubt," he added.
"We have to see how he progresses, these 24 hours are important to see how the player is, what his feelings are and from there, make a decision."
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