What happens to Barcelona when the MSN disappear?
Barça's loss to City was due to many reasons and the showing from the front three in the second half was one of them
Barcelona’s defeat against Manchester City is being analysed from many points of view. One of the problems at the Etihad and one which could prove concerning in the final phase of the season was the ‘disappearance’ of the MSN -- Messi, Suarez and Neymar -- in the second half.
It’s evident that any team would have problems if the front three were cut off from the rest of the team. However, the talent of the MSN is so impressive that they can change games on themselves, regardless on what’s going on behind them.
Another subject, though, is how the rest of the team cope when the three South Americans have a bad night.
Luis Enrique’s side have played 16 games this season. The balance is positive: 12 wins, one draw and three losses. Looking at the defeats, though, it’s curious to see what happened to the MSN in said games -- or if they were even playing…
So far this season, they’ve played nine games. In the 1-2 defeat to Alaves at home they were on the pitch for half an hour and in the 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid they were together for 58 minutes.
A loss and a draw. The goals in those two games came from Jeremy Mathieu and Ivan Rakitic. The conclusion is evident: the team didn’t know how to survive a bad night for the MSN; or, simply, the absence of one of them.
They didn’t know how to beat Manchester City on Tuesday, either, or Celta Vigo, although Messi and Neymar did score in those games.
The three opposite cases would be the 0-1 win at Athletic Club, the 1-2 win at Borussia Monchengladbach and the 1-0 win against Granada. At San Mames, without Neymar, it was Rakitic who scored the goal when Messi and Suarez couldn’t. Without Messi in Germany, Arda Turan and Gerard Pique came up with the goods. Finally, at Camp Nou last weekend, Rafinha popped up with the winner, despite the MSN all playing.
They’re the three games in which Barça have found the necessary resources to win despite an off night from their forwards. The support from the second line proved decisive.
Barcelona’s 2016-17 season shows that these situations happen, but also invites Luis Enrique to find a formula to survive when the MSN are having a difficult time. It could prove the difference at the end of the season when there’s more on the line.
Topics with the letter
