Granada vs. Barcelona: Breaking Down Luis Suarez's Performance in La Liga Game
Luis Suarez had a face like thunder when substituted at Granada. And well he might.
In a fairly insipid team performance by Barcelona, Suarez shone brightest and his early removal by Luis Enrique made little sense.
The Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes has tripped up the best teams in the past and Barca were one to fall to defeat there last season. A defeat which contributed to the failure to capture La Liga.
Therefore, a professional performance was required. And Barca provided it. Just.
Suarez was buoyant from a two-goal salvo in Manchester during the week to put the Catalans in the box seat in their Champions League tie with Manchester City.
His eagerness to be involved at the sharp end again was obvious and it frequently got the better of him in the early stages.
A yellow card just after the quarter hour was purely down to exuberance, despite Granada claiming a deliberate elbow from Suarez was the cause.
"Suárez yellow carded. Nothing there to give a yellow card
— Messi Rakitić (@MessiRakitic) February 28, 2015"
As the game progressed it seemed fairly clear that Abel Resino's game plan was to get under the skin of the Barca players but it never really worked to any great extent.
Suarez was already getting himself into decent positions before his shot which led to the opening goal. In all fairness, if the covering defender had left the cross-shot alone, it would've rolled harmlessly wide.
By allowing it to get stuck under his feet and without the time to readjust, it gave Ivan Rakitic the simplest of conversions.
So many times this season Suarez's work-rate has shone through and the match against Granada was no exception. Despite only 27 touches, per WhoScored.com, the Uruguayan was busy throughout and his movement was first class.
Such industry deserved a goal and it duly arrived just after half-time.
There seemed little danger when Ivan Rakitic scooped Suarez's ball over the top of the defence, but the strength of the Uruguayan to get in position and a delay from Granada goalkeeper, and ex-Barca man Oier Olazabal, gave the Catalans another easy score.
It was Suarez's 10th goal in 24 appearances in all competitions. Not too bad a return from a player that missed the first three months of the season and took at least another month afterwards before he found true match fitness.
Barca hadn't played particularly well to that point of the game and two goals flattered them somewhat, but no matter.
Just 10 minutes later Suarez burst through to round Oier and rather than shoot into an empty net, he squared the ball to Messi who just couldn't miss.
Ten further minutes and more nuisance making later, Suarez was off.
Job well done.
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