Former Barcelona boss and 1978 World Cup winner Cesar Luis Menotti has claimed that Luis Enrique’s side “can lose to anyone”.
Menotti, who guided La Blaugrana to the Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga and Supercopa in the 1983-84 season and Argentina to world supremacy six years earlier, believes River Plate – another of his former teams – are more than capable of causing Barca a shock in December’s Club World Cup.
“It’s a match and you have to play it, but this Barcelona under Luis Enrique can lose to anyone,” he told La Capital.
“However, it was against [Pep] Guardiola’s Barcelona then River [Plate, Barca’s potential opponents in the final] would have no chance of winning. Pep’s the best Coach of the last 30 years.
“If [Lionel] Messi doesn’t play then River have a good chance of beating this Barcelona in Japan, but if he plays then it’s more difficult because it depends on how the lad performs.”
