Ronald Koeman adamant Barcelona need to 'move on' from Lionel Messi's departure

'A Lionel Messi-less Barcelona' defeated Juventus by a resounding 3-0 in their annual friendly Joan Gamper Trophy match courtesy of goals from Memphis Depay, Martin Braithwaite, and Riqui Puig as the match took place at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in front of 3,000 fans. FC Barcelona's coach Ronald Koeman was adamant that his team have to move on from Messi's departure.

"It's normal that when a player like Messi leaves, it's hard for everyone, but we have to move on because we can't change the situation," Koeman said as he spoke to the press after the match.

Other players need to step up

The Dutchman then mentioned that the other players will have to step in the absence of Messi and play important roles in the team. He also spoke of Depay's stunning performance after he was directly involved in two goals, scoring one and setting up one for Braithwaite.

"We have to play well, win and work even harder. There are other players who can play in his position and play an important role in the team. We don't have Leo now, though. We have to move on and look forward."

"We've signed Memphis Depay, who has shown today that he can be really effective," Koeman explained.

"The midfielders need to score more and the squad needs to improve. The best player in the world will always be missed, but you have to accept it and get to work. It's no use dwelling on the past. There's a lot of promise in this team."

The coach was happy with Barca's performance

Koeman was satisfied with the showing of his Barcelona side ahead of the start of the new season and with backup goalkeeper Neto's performance in the match as he kept out the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo.

"It's a really good result. Football-wise, we reached a really good level," Koeman said. "Neto was very good and we've taken another step forward. The boys who were at the Olympics still have to return, so when we have everyone back, it'll be better."

"We're on the right track to competing well in the first match."

Why Messi has left Barcelona after 21 years.

While speaking at a press conference on Friday, Laporta explained that the club was not able to register Lionel Messi's contract because of LaLiga's financial fair play rules.

"What we are spending is a lot more than we expected and the current contracts mean that we have this salary mass of great magnitude. This is all tied to fair play. La Liga doesn't follow the criteria of cash, that is why we couldn't fit in the first contract that we agreed with Leo Messi," said Laporta.

(Image Credits: @RonaldKoeman - Twitter)