Barcelona Must Stay Mentally Strong to Overcome Lionel Messi Injury Absence

CAMP NOU, Barcelona — It was already a tense night. Not one high on quality or chances. Effort, yes. That was Diego Simeone’s doing, the way the Atletico Madrid coach wanted the game, despite the relatively attacking lineup he picked on Wednesday.

But then Barcelona slipped through past Atletico’s guard. Ivan Rakitic’s 41st-minute goal broke the skin of the game, and finally blood was starting to flow. After resisting Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez for so long, Atletico were undone, incredibly, by a short-corner routine. 

Traditionally, corners are their forte, both defensively and offensively, while over the years they have been Barcelona’s kryptonite. That has changed under manager Luis Enrique and assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzue, the man in charge of masterminding Barcelona’s set-piece strategy.

Andres Iniesta received the ball short and floated back down the pitch until he had worked an inviting angle for himself to swing it in, and Rakitic nodded home.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press/Associated Press

Barcelona know they can turn to the Croatian when in need. He has opened the scoring for them on 11 occasions—58 per cent of his 19 strikes for the club have broken the deadlock.

This time, his team could not capitalise. Angel Correa levelled the scores in the second half, and they stayed at 1-1, even as the game opened up toward the end. There were three crucial moments that led up to Correa’s goal.

One unfortunate, one preventable and one a little of both.

Unfortunate was Sergio Busquets's withdrawal a few minutes after half-time. The player had been feeling unwell, and Enrique took him off as a precaution after he asked to be removed. Good management, but Barcelona paid the price, as they lost the stability Busquets impresses on the team.

Then Messi was substituted, having clutched at his thigh and later sat down on the edge of the penalty area. The Argentinian was clearly having groin trouble, a repeat of a problem that plagued him while on international duty with Argentina earlier in September.

It is unfortunate, of course, to lose the best player in the world. Preventable, though, because Messi rushed himself back into action after the international break. Perhaps the medical team and coach should have made him wait to make his return.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Little more than 60 seconds after Messi left the field came the preventable error that cost Barcelona the goal.

Already rocked, almost dazed, by seeing Busquets and Messi taken off, Barcelona were dumped on the deck by a quick Atletico move—quite literally in the case of Javier Mascherano.

Gerard Pique was suckered by Fernando Torres, who nutmegged him after a quick free-kick, before Correa zipped past Mascherano, leaving him on the turf like Messi did to Jerome Boateng in the Champions League semi-final first leg in 2015 and scythed the ball in off the post.

Both Pique and Mascherano erred here, but these actions unfortunately marred what would otherwise have been considered good games for both centre-backs.

PAU BARRENA/Getty Images

Further chances materialised for both sides, but none were taken, and the end result was a fair one, even if neither set of players was particularly happy about it.

The result suits Atletico, who survived their toughest away trip of the season without sustaining damage, and Real Madrid, who drew earlier in the evening with Villarreal but stayed top of the table thanks to this result.

Barcelona’s job is to survive the next three matches without Messi. The club announced after the game he would likely be out for three weeks, which rules him out of their away clashes with Sporting Gijon, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celta Vigo, as well as featuring for Argentina in the international break that follows.

Sport’s Javier Miguel reported that Messi will not be travelling to join up with the Albiceleste, writing:

"

There should be no dilemma, though, about where Messi recovers. He will do so in Barcelona. He will not travel to Argentina. The Catalan club's medical team feel it's impossible that he will recover inside three weeks. 

Therefore, he will remain in Barcelona, while the Blaugrana and the Argentine Football Federation remain in contact, not ruling out the possibility of Argentina's medical team coming to the Catalan city to check in on the 29-year-old. 

It's different to what happened last time. On that occasion, Messi travelled to Argentina with a medical report from Barça advising of a groin problem. [Edgardo] Bauza started him against Uruguay, but he then missed the Venezuela game to return to Barcelona injured. 

"

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Asked about Messi’s injury in his post-match press conference, Enrique said: "I’m not a doctor, but to lose Messi, football loses. We all lose, and that’s something we are sad about.

"Last year, he had a big injury, and the team was at a good level. The truth is that with Leo, we are stronger, but we will be strong without him. We have to keep playing well."

That is what he will demand from his players, and history shows Barcelona can cope without their leading light.

Messi was injured against Las Palmas, going off in the 10th minute of Barcelona’s eventual 2-1 triumph, on September 26, 2015. 

The next time he reappeared was two months later, on November 21, coming off the substitutes' bench to join in the fun as Barcelona ran riot against archrivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

There was a learning curve for Barcelona in between, scraping to a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen and then losing against Sevilla by the same score. Things finally clicked against Rayo Vallecano on Oct. 17, and they won 5-2.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Neymar and Suarez took the bull by the horns, netting 20 of the 23 goals Barca scored between Messi going off injured against Las Palmas and the start of the Real Madrid match.

While a similar tally would be welcome from the South American duo, they have more support this year with Paco Alcacer in the squad.

He could be the beneficiary of Messi’s absence, even if it means he has to play in a wide-right position rather than up front. Arda Turan, too, can expect more game time in the weeks ahead.

They will not be easy times for Barcelona, but the squad players must view this as an opportunity to feature while Neymar and Suarez have a chance to be the main men again—something they will relish, no matter how much they enjoy playing with Messi.

On paper, Barcelona looked the strongest side in LaLiga going into this season. They still do, despite the setback against Alaves and the failure to hold on to their lead against Atletico.

Messi’s injury will test them, but it is an exam they have passed before, and despite three tricky-looking away fixtures, they have the strength in depth to deal with the obstacles. Enrique’s job is making sure they are prepared for it mentally, as well as physically.

Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.