La Liga Blog: It Has Been A Very Bad Week For The Defending Champs (Barcelona)

La Liga Blog

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi was injured in the fourth minute in the game against Las Palmas by defender Pedro Bigas. It is reported that he will be out for up to two months. The injury is a collateral ligament tear in his left knee. The player tried to carry on but was shortly replaced by Munir El Haddadi. Shortly after the game had finished he was taken to Clinica Cruz Blanca hospital located close by. Tests carried out showed that he has torn a ligament in his left knee. A video posted online shows the four-times Ballon D’or winner limping out of the hospital.

Luis Enrique the Barcelona manager said that an injury is a huge loss to the club and especially so when it is Lionel Messi. He stated that it is good news for their rivals and an obstacle that they will have to overcome. There are lots of great players here and we will not change the way that we play.

The last time that Messi was seriously injured was in the 2013 season. He suffered from a number of hamstring and thigh injuries that kept him out. Last season though he hit form and managed to score 58 goals in all competitions. Barcelona went on to win the Spanish League, Copa del Rey and Champions League thanks to that fine form. He is such a special player that he is irreplaceable and will be badly missed over the next two months. Messi is the leading goal scorer for Barcelona and the Spanish league. His injury will definitely be a major blow to the team during the next several games.

Once Messi was taken off, Barcelona went on to win the match 2 – 1. Luis Suarez headed in the first and struck again shortly after half time. A penalty was missed by Neymar and Las Palmas hit a consolation goal in the 88th minute through Jonathan Viera.

To add to Barcelona’s problems, they have injuries to other key players. Both Claudio Bravo and Dani Alves are out injured, which has left a whole void to fill at the back. So far this season they are yet to keep a clean sheet. With FIFA banning Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan until January and Rafinha out with ligament damage for six months, manager Luis Enrique has a lot of problems to cope with.

It has been a very bad week for the club. On Wednesday, they lost to Celta Vigo 4 – 1 to end their 100% record. Neymar is facing allegations for tax evasion and has had his assets frozen by the Spanish authorities. Over the next 8 days, Barcelona have two vital games coming up. The first is in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen and the second against Sevilla in the league. If they are to continue their fine start to the season they are going to need their other stars to perform at their highest level.

One piece of positive news though for Barcelona is that Real Madrid drew 0 – 0 at the weekend. The draw means that they failed to move above Barcelona at the top of the Spanish League. The result was largely down to an inspired display by the Malaga goalkeeper. Real had 31 shots over the 90 minutes but could not find the back of the net. They are now one point below their arch-rivals in the race for the title.