Barcelona All Set to Dominate La Liga Again with or Without Lionel Messi

Barcelona continued a perfect start to the season with their hard-fought 2-1 win at the Vicente Calderon.

Set against the backdrop of injuries and suspensions to key players, it's a win that will surely have pleased Luis Enrique and Barca's technical staff no end.

And importantly, it will have shown them the Blaugrana can go to the toughest of away grounds and still pick up the points even if Lionel Messi doesn't play for large periods.

However, the half-hour cameo from the Argentinian will grab the headlines—WhoScored.com even has him as the Man of the Match.

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Despite only playing 31 minutes, Messi completed 8 dribbles tonight, at least 5 more than any other player on the pitch [via @whoscored]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) September 12, 2015"

There's little doubt that when Messi plays, the whole team is elevated to greater heights. Neymar admitted as much post match.

But there was much to admire in this Barca performance, a triumph over adversity in some respects.

One of the most pleasing aspects is the continuing emergence of Barca's young stars.

Sergi Roberto has been a revelation in the right wing-back role and looked solid and dependable for the most part. Although he lacks Dani Alves' effervescence in getting forward, his defensive appreciation is excellent, and his success in the role has given Enrique some food for thought.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Ditto Rafinha.

Taking Messi's place up front to allow the Argentinian to recover from international week and the birth of his second son, Mateo, Rafinha was industrious and energetic throughout, a fact not lost on his manager, who could quite easily have taken him off but instead opted to give Ivan Rakitic a rest.

Losing Thomas Vermaelen to a calf injury when the Belgian was just beginning to play himself into some decent form will be a bitter blow, but his replacement, Jeremy Mathieu, stepped up to the plate when required.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Gerard Pique will miss a further La Liga fixture, so the Frenchman has another chance to stake a claim.

For a team that hasn't particularly been known for their strength in depth, the Catalans have already come up trumps, and three of their most difficult assignments of the season have all been negotiated successfully.

GERARD JULIEN/Getty Images

Rotations Enrique would've been castigated for this time last year have been forced upon him in this campaign. Use of his full squad with no evident drop off in quality has been a luxury previously denied to the manager and has given him different options if needed and dependent on opposition.

Both Neymar and Luis Suarez were again pivotal to the outcome. The former is maturing game by game, carrying the baton that will eventually be passed permanently to him by Messi.

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Neymar free kick against Atletico pic.twitter.com/DHBPvx2RKt

— Football Planet (@iFootballPlanet) September 12, 2015"

Suarez's centre-forward play has been peerless. At this point in time, you'd be hard pressed to find a harder-working striker in the business.

They and Barca are changing the narrative by not really changing anything at all—doing what they do well and, in the majority of cases, doing it better than everyone else.

2015 has already been the most golden of years for Barcelona, and the success story shows no signs of abating. Enrique may not get it, but he deserves all of the credit for the same—for keeping a team that has won it all hungry and purposeful.

To come back to win the match after going a goal down to Atletico Madrid in a raucous Vicente Calderon is noteworthy. Even this early in the season, it is the form of champions. 

Paul White/Associated Press

Messi may not have scored five goals on Saturday like his nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, but his contribution was every bit as important, arguably more so given the standard of opposition, with the greatest of respect to Espanyol.

With nine points from nine on the board already, and with many first-choice players to recall to action over the coming weeks, the Catalans look well set to dominate La Liga again.