Why Real Sociedad Defeat Proved Luis Suarez Is Barcelona's Most Important Player

There are times when the best way to gain personal recognition is to allow others to see what it would be like if you weren't there.

That isn't likely to have been going through Luis Suarez's head when he picked up his fifth booking of the Primera Liga season in Barcelona's El Clasico defeat earlier this month, but it would be safe to say it probably represents the thoughts of plenty of Barcelona supporters right now.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Suarez was suspended for the weekend's trip to Real Sociedad's Anoeta Stadium, a ground where Barca now have such a terrible record—five defeats in their last six league visits—that they'll be hoping this summer's stadium alterations include scrapping the place entirely.

Saturday's 1-0 defeat was as disjointed and dispirited as Barca have been this season, with Lionel Messi dropping deeper and deeper to try to have any sort of impact on the match and Neymar proving ineffective on the left-hand side.

Munir El Haddadi, Suarez's replacement up front, tried as hard as he always does, but when the going got tough in the final throes of the game, it was hard to think of anything he did to try to force the equaliser.

And Suarez's absence was made all the more damaging because this is the type of game the forward loves.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

You often get the sense that the Uruguayan prefers the tight, on-the-edge battles in which one goal is crucial over the type of routine home win Barca frequently achieve over the bottom half of La Liga. Those are games when the team's majesty can come to the fore, but when they simply need to put the ball into the back of the net, Suarez is usually the man on hand to do it for them.

That was the case in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Atletico Madrid last week, and they'll hope it will be the same come the return in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.

JAVIER SORIANO/Getty Images

This isn't to say Suarez is a better player than Messi or Neymar or even Cristiano Ronaldo, if you want to throw him in it, too. Those sort of debates are long and boring and have been done to death anyway.

What isn't beyond doubt, though, is that Suarez makes Barcelona the team they are, just as Neymar does when he is on song. Both have arrived at the club in the past couple of years and become the cut to Messi's thrust, the final brushstrokes on a fantastic piece of artwork.

Perhaps this comes from Suarez's experiences at his former clubs and with his country, where he has always been used to fighting hard—sometimes too hard—for everything he achieves. Success isn't a given at Barcelona, of course, but it doesn't exactly come as a surprise.

If you want to just look at the numbers behind it all, go ahead. Suarez has 45 goals in 45 games this season—a staggering record, and one that barely anyone in Europe can match.

LLUIS GENE/Getty Images

As back-to-back Liga defeats and a shaky Champions League advantage see the Madrid clubs closing in on them both on the domestic and European stages, Suarez will be as important as ever if Barca are to reach their goals in the remainder of this campaign.

As he showed last week against Atletico, there are few forwards who occupy defenders quite like he does, and while some may choose to see the headline above as a slight on the genius of Messi, it is obvious he makes the brilliant Argentinian an even better player when he is available, something he hopefully will be for the remainder of the campaign—for Barca's sake.

Because they've experienced what life is like without him, and they would much rather not have to do that again.