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Lionel Messi Absence 'Not an Excuse' for Barcelona Loss, Says Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez said Lionel Messi's absence "was not an excuse" after Barcelona fell to a 2-0 defeat to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder netted in the second half of the quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, leaving Barca with an uphill task in next week's return leg at the Camp Nou.

Messi, 31, was left out of the squad entirely by manager Ernesto Valverde, but Barca's starting XI still boasted the likes of Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Arthur.

Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordi Alba were also all thrown on in the second half, and the Uruguayan striker said the players on the pitch should have taken responsibility, per AS:

"Leo was not in other games and we took over the responsibility of the team and we took the games forward.