My point is, we can agree that whoever else is there in his place is definitely not going to be as good or as effective as Messi. The thing is, the kid isn't just about scoring. Basically everything productive attackingwise goes through him. They would be a much depleted outfit in his absence IMO.
I don't know about them still having 80 goals across board in the absence of Messi.
I can see them really really struggling. Especially when they can't take advantage of his pace on the counter attack, and his ability to create and score imaginary goals.
