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Questions abound for Barcelona as it tries to cope with Messi’s injury
If Barcelona is to defend its crown as La Liga and European champion, it will do so the hard way. Barça may have got back to winning ways Saturday—it recovered from the 4–1 midweek loss at Celta Vigo with a 2–1 win over Las Palmas—but the atmosphere was, according to Santi Gimenez in Spanish outlet AS, “tinged with pessimism and solemnity … more like a hospital waiting-room,” after Lionel Messi went off injured after 10 minutes.
The incident looked innocuous enough: The game was three minutes old when Messi cut inside from the right wing and took a shot that was blocked by defender Pedro Bigas. Messi went down and received treatment, but five minutes later was substituted off and taken for tests that showed a ligament tear in his left knee. The prognosis is that he will miss seven to eight weeks, which would tentatively bring him back in time for the first El Clásico of the season at Real Madrid on Nov. 22.
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The more immediate concern for coach Luis Enrique is how Barcelona copes until then. It has already been a tough campaign: Injuries to Dani Alves and Claudio Bravo have put the defense, which has failed to keep a clean sheet yet this season (and conceded four goals in three separate matches) under pressure, the FIFA ban means Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal cannot play until January and the popular and highly rated Rafinha is out for six months with ligament damage.
The last time Messi did not take part in a Barcelona game was 64 matches ago, and his last significant injury was in November 2013; he missed nine games when Barcelona won six, drew two and lost one (at Athletic Bilbao). Back then, coach Tata Martino moved Cesc Fabregas into the false No. 9 position and picked Pedro on the right as cover. This squad, at least for a few more months, lacks that depth. Munir El Haddadi (one goal in 20 appearances) and Sandro Ramirez (four goals in 18 appearances), both 20, are next in line to come in.
Enrique has another option. Against Las Palmas, he started with a midfield three of Mascherano-Busquets-Rakitic for the first time, leaving Andres Iniesta on the bench. The 31-year-old might prove a crucial player in the next few months and will surely be used an option as the third forward player alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez in attack.
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Here’s the thing: Despite having those two players in its side, two of the best center forwards in the world today, Barcelona still depends on Messi. Maybe not as much as it used to—the job of Martino, and Enrique since, has been to reduce the Messi-dependencia—but psychologically there is clearly a sense that, “Messi is playing, he can get us out of trouble if we need it” among his teammates. For now, at least, that is no more. That leadership role must fall to Suarez or to Neymar, who only last week said that he was ready to replace Messi as the team’s free-kick taker. “When he stops, I am ready,” Neymar said.
That comes down to the coach to tell his players to ignore headlines like El Mundo’s “Gulp!” and the #animomessi hashtag that is a throwback to Brazil’s emotional collapse when Neymar was injured at the 2014 World Cup. The concept of #animo hashtags started when Eric Abidal faced a life-threatening liver tumor in 2012. It’s hardly the same as two months out with a knee injury.
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“I'm always sad when one of my players gets injured, and even more when it's Messi,” Enrique said after the match on Saturday. “But we need to accept the challenge and understand that this is part of football and get through it. We will not change our style of play without Messi, although there are many moments in games in which Messi liberates us and finds solutions for us, so we'll have to strengthen in other areas and the team will have to step up without him.”
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Messi’s injury highlights another outstanding facet of his career at Barcelona; that, despite being fouled more than anyone else, he is so rarely injured. Since 2008, he has only played fewer than 50 games for Barcelona in one season—that was in 2013–14, when he managed 46 (and scored 41). When we look back at his goal records, the astonishing range of strikes and the big-game composure too, we should also remember his consistency. The game is faster than ever before, but somehow Messi was always too quick to get injured.
Barcelona’s fixture-list is not hugely fraught with danger. Messi will miss three Champions League games, against Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen (which will be pleased because Messi scored five against it in a 7–1 win in March 2010) and the home-and-away against group minnow BATE Borisov of Belarus. In La Liga, he misses next week’s trip to Sevilla, which has started slowly this season, and games against Rayo Vallecano, Eibar and Getafe before facing surprise table-topper Villarreal. Then comes the Madrid clash.
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Jokers have already pointed out that Neymar is doing a good job of replacing Messi. He missed a penalty in the Las Palmas game (Messi has missed six of his last 12), and this week a Brazilian court froze nearly $50 million of his assets for alleged tax evasion. If Barcelona can keep this injury in perspective then there is no reason for it to derail its campaign. The onus is on Enrique to keep the #animo in check. Neymar and Luis Suarez can look after the rest.
Pope Francis and Soccer
Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) poses with the San Lorenzo team emblem, which he supports in Buenos Aires, on May 24, 2011.
Pope Francis is given a San Lorenzo jersey as he greets the faithful prior to his first 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica during Easter Mass on March 31, 2013 in Vatican City.
Argentina's San Lorenzo team poses with a huge flag behind them with an image of Pope Francis before the start of their match against Newell's Old Boys on March 31, 2013 in Buenos Aires.
Pope Francis talks with Juventus team president Andrea Agnelli (left) and coach Antonio Conte (right) during their audience at The Vatican on May 21, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis receives an autographed Juventus jersey from captain Gianluigi Buffon (right) and coach Antonio Conte at the end of their audience at The Vatican on May 21, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Gianluigi Buffon of Italy's national team during an audience at The Vatican on August 13, 2013 in Vatican City.
Mario Balotelli of Italy's national team shakes hands with Pope Francis during an audience at The Vatican on August 13, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis holds an autographed soccer ball from Italy's national team during an audience at The Vatican on August 13, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon of Italy's national team during an audience at The Vatican on August 13, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis welcomes Stephan El Shaarawy of Italy's national team during an audience at The Vatican on August 13, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis smiles as he receives a jersey from FIFA President Sepp Blatter during a private audience at The Vatican on November 22, 2013 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Antonio Cassano of FC Parma during an audience at The Vatican on February 1, 2014 in Vatican City.
An Argentina fan holds a flag with a portrait of Pope Francis prior to a Group F football match between Argentina and Iran at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil on June 21, 2014.
Argentina's supporters hold a banner depicting Pope Francis, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi as they wait for the arrival of Argentinian players outside the Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre, on June 24, 2014, on the eve of a Group F football match between Argentina and Nigeria during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Argentina fans hold posters of Lionel Messi, Pope Francis and Diego Maradona prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Round of 16 match between Argentina and Switzerland at Arena de Sao Paulo on July 1, 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A banner with the image of Pope Francis hangs from a stand of Pedro Bidegain stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on August 13, 2014 during the Copa Libertadores 2014 second leg football final between Argentina's San Lorenzo and Paraguay's Nacional.
Pope Francis receives the Copa Libertadores trophy from Matias Lammens as he meets members of the San Lorenzo team during his weekly public audience on August 19, 2014 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis receives a jersey from Diego Maradona during an audience with the players of the 'Partita Interreligiosa Della Pace' at Paul VI Hall before the Interreligious Match For Peace at Olimpico Stadium on September 1, 2014 in Rome.
Pope Francis takes a group photo with the players of the 'Partita Interreligiosa Della Pace' at Paul VI Hall on September 1, 2014 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Arjen Robben of FC Bayern Muenchen during a private audience at The Vatican October 22, 2014 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Manuel Neuer of FC Bayern Muenchen during a private audience at The Vatican October 22, 2014 in Vatican City.
(From left) Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of FC Bayern Muenchen present Pope Francis a team jersey during a private audience at The Vatican October 22, 2014 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Robert Lewandowski of FC Bayern Muenchen during a private audience at The Vatican October 22, 2014 in Vatican City.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Xabi Alonso of FC Bayern Muenchen during a private audience at The Vatican October 22, 2014 in Vatican City.
A banner depicting Diego Maradona, Pope Francis and Lionel Messi hangs before the start of Argentina's Copa America semifinal match against Paraguay on June 30, 2015 in Concepcion, Chile.
Spanish club Villarreal visits the Vatican prior to a Europa League match against AS Roma.
A journalist, broadcaster and consultant, Ben Lyttleton also wrote the book on PKs with his “Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Penalty Kick.”