Barcelona vs. Las Palmas: Winners and Losers from La Liga
An injury to Lionel Messi overshadowed Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Las Palmas in La Liga on Saturday at the Camp Nou.
Early in the match, Messi appeared to suffer an injury in a challenge with Las Palmas' Pedro Bigas. The Argentine tried to continue but had to leave the match in the 10th minute. An early report from FCBarcelona.com indicated Messi could miss seven to eight weeks after tearing a ligament in his left knee.
When the game resumed, Luis Suarez scored in the 25th and 54th minutes to give Barca a 2-0 lead. Neymar then missed a penalty, and Las Palmas pulled a goal back through Jonathan Viera two minutes from time.
Here, B/R selects winners and losers from the match.
Loser: Barcelona's Luck with Injuries
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Barcelona entered Saturday's match with injury concerns. Jordi Alba, Claudio Bravo, Thomas Vermaelen and Rafinha were all present on an already long injury list.
Now that list includes Lionel Messi, the worst possible name from Barcelona's perspective.
The reasons should be obvious. Messi is a goalscoring machine. He's been either the best or second-best player in the world for the better part of a decade. Missing him for any amount of time will be a cruel blow for Barcelona.
According to Kieran Canning at Agence France-Presse, via Yahoo, Messi will miss up to eight weeks of action after suffering a tear in a knee ligament.
"It is sad when any player gets injured,” Barca coach Luis Enrique said, according to Sam Marsden for Diario Sport. "And we all know about Messi’s weight in our team, but we have a squad so that we can overcome injuries like this one."
Messi's absence will no doubt hurt, but Enrique is right to suggest that Barcelona have the squad depth to overcome the loss. Journalist Miguel Delaney argued the same on Twitter, writing sarcastically: "Poor Barca. If Messi is out for so long, they only have two other forwards every other club in the world would make their own Messi."
He's referring to Luis Suarez and Neymar, and he's right. Both of those players are top-class forwards. If any team can overcome the loss of a superstar such as Messi, it's Barcelona.
Their first chance to prove it comes this Tuesday against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League. Barca will then head to Sevilla next weekend in La Liga before a two-week break.
According to the report cited above, Messi will miss up to eight weeks. Coincidentally, El Clasico is scheduled for Nov. 22, which is eight weeks away. If Messi can come back in time to face Real Madrid, that would give Barca a big boost.
Winner: Luis Suarez
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As noted in the previous slide, Barcelona are blessed with multiple top-class striking options. While Messi recovers from his injury, his club won't suffer too badly.
Luis Suarez's performance on Saturday should reassure the fans and the club of just that. The Uruguayan scored twice, converting a header in the first half and slamming home at the back post in the second.
As ever, Suarez's finishing was excellent. And he could have even scored another, but he chose not to take a penalty later in the second half, instead deferring to Neymar.
Make no mistake: Losing Messi is a big blow to Barca. But having Suarez in the squad should give the Catalans some relief.
Winner: Sergi Roberto
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Sergi Roberto turned in a good performance at right-back, supplying the assist for Luis Suarez's first goal with an inch-perfect cross.
The 23-year-old Spaniard filled in for Dani Alves recently while the latter missed time with an injury. Alves praised Roberto for his performances, telling Diario Sport: "It's great to see his commitment and his involvement helping the team, even though it's not his natural position. He has done very well."
Roberto's natural position is in midfield, but after another good outing at right-back, one has to wonder whether manager Luis Enrique will persist in playing him there.
Loser: Neymar
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Neymar had a few big chance to score a goal Saturday but couldn't find the net.
With Barca winning 2-0, he blasted his second-half penalty well over the bar. Later in the second half, the Brazilian blazed over the bar after being played in by Luis Suarez.
The penalty was a particularly poor miss, and with Lionel Messi set to miss significant time through injury, Neymar will know he must be more clinical in front of goal.
Winner: Munir
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Munir El Haddadi entered the match in the 10th minute as Lionel Messi's substitute. Coming on as Messi's replacement represented a tough task for the 20-year-old, but he performed admirably.
The Spaniard was involved in the buildup to the first goal, freeing Sergi Roberto on the right with a clever backheel. Roberto then crossed to Suarez, who scored.
El Haddadi set up the second directly, crossing from the right to Suarez, who slammed in at the back post.
Replacing Messi would be difficult for any player, but El Haddadi must have been pleased with how he played on Saturday.
Winner: Las Palmas
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Las Palmas lost the match, but the visitors should be proud of the way they played. When Jonathan Viera scored in the closing moments, it was no more than the Canary Islands side deserved for its positive, attacking display.
Already this season, Las Palmas have beaten Sevilla, drawn with Celta Vigo (despite playing most of the match with 10 men) and played Barca tough at the Camp Nou. Many more teams will have trouble against Paco Herrera's men this term.
