Luis Suarez's Blushes Saved as Barcelona Earn Slim Win over Atletico Madrid

CAMP NOU, Barcelona — Another game, another Luis Suarez miss. This time the Uruguayan was only a couple of yards out but slashed at Ivan Rakitic's beautiful dinked ball, sending it high over the crossbar.

Barcelona's No. 9 fell to his knees, head in hands. A few yards behind him, Rakitic did the same. The Croatian's pass had been perfect, and it seemed harder to miss.

The Camp Nou crowd didn't let their heads drop, though. "Suarez, Suarez," they chanted, despite the forward's blunder, during the 1-0 Copa del Rey win. 

It was reminiscent of how Chelsea supporters tried their hardest to drag Fernando Torres out of the ditch he was in, back when the forward was looking lost at Stamford Bridge.

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That didn't work, and he eventually parted ways. He's now back at Atletico, a living, breathing, physical warning for Suarez right there at the other end of the pitch.

He was great at Liverpool and required a huge transfer fee but was a failure when moving to a modern giant of the game. It's too easy to map Torres' path onto Suarez's future; in fact, it would just be lazy.

There are comparisons to draw though, certainly. Torres signed for Chelsea after coming back from injury, while Suarez had a quick operation on his knee and then flung himself straight into the World Cup. 

The striker's first touch seems to have deserted him at Barcelona. A perfect, pinged Dani Alves ball forward was not controlled by the striker, and what could have been an excellent chance was gone.

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He even created an opening for Neymar by accident, a move which eventually ended in Jan Oblak tipping behind the Brazilian's vicious strike.

Suarez looked frustrated throughout, while at the other end Torres was getting short shrifted as well. He had a shot that was blocked by the imperious Gerard Pique and then could have run through on goal but played a poorly weighted pass, which was intercepted.

Torres made way at half-time, but Suarez was left to toil on, with Lionel Messi and Neymar, so light of foot, buzzing around either side of him.

Suarez is nowhere near as weak as Torres was for Chelsea, because he can still cause chaos in a defence with his waspish running and tireless work rate.

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Things just need to click for him, and manager Luis Enrique believes they will.

He said in his post-match press conference: "I have complete confidence in my team and complete confidence in Suarez. He didn't have much luck in front of goal today. He couldn't find the net, but he played well and managed to push Atletico's defenders back. I have no doubt that the goals will come."

Enrique has no doubt, and neither, it seems, do the fans. But Suarez seems wracked with it at the moment, and watching Torres at the other end of the field won't have helped.

But he's bounced back before, often from problems of his own volition, and you would back him to do it again.

Enrique quotes taken firsthand.