Interim Barcelona president Carles Tusquets said letting Lionel Messi leave would have helped Barcelona with the salary caps imposed in La Liga.
Other than Lionel Messi, even Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Philippe Coutinho will sit out Barcelona's UEFA Champions League clash against Ferencvaros.
La Liga: Diego Maradona was displayed on every screen in Camp Nou during Barcelona's 4-0 win vs Osasuna.
Diego Maradona died due to a heart attack at the age of 60 in Argentina on Wednesday.
Robert Lewandowski was named along side Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe among others for Best FIFA Men's Player award.
There is a sense that Ronald Koeman's Barcelona appear already to be stalling, devoid of either a clear identity or renewed enthusiasm, both of which might have been expected to follow the appointment of a new coach.
Atletico Madrid recorded their first league victory over Barcelona in 10 years, which put them three points ahead of Real Madrid, with a game in hand, and second in the table.
Lionel Messi can talk to other clubs in January and leave for free when his contract expires in June, with Manchester City expected to make a renewed attempt to lure the 33-year-old away from Camp Nou.
After Argentina's victory over Peru in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers, Lionel Messi expressed elation and said his side "needed" the win.
Barcelona's salary cap for the 2020-21 season will be 382.7 million euros, down from 671.4 million euros last term, when they had the highest limit in La Liga.
The result ends Argentina's perfect start in their bid to qualify for the 2022 finals in Qatar, after Lionel Scaloni's team claimed narrow wins last month at home to Ecuador and away to Bolivia.
Lionel Messi came on at half-time to rescue Barcelona by scoring twice, including his first goal from open play this season, in a 5-2 victory over Real Betis on Saturday.
Barcelona have taken just eight points from their first six matches in La Liga, failing to win in any of their last four outings after drawing 1-1 away at 10-man Alaves last time out.
Barcelona failed to beat 10-man Alaves, a 1-1 draw leaving Ronald Koeman's side sitting 12th in La Liga table.
Champions League: Barcelona are top of Group G with six points after two games with Juventus on three. The reverse fixture takes place at the Camp Nou on December 8.
Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Juventus team of Wednesday's game against Barcelona in Turin.
Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned as Barcelona president on Tuesday, along with his board of directors, and left with a bombshell admission that he had accepted a proposal for the club to play in "a future European Super League"
On Saturday, Barcelona and Real Madrid go face to face in the biggest football stadium in the world too, but almost all of the 99,000 seats at Camp Nou will be empty.
