adminUP front there are no doubts now and Barcelona, the team identified with its midfield, has come to be identified with its front three. Lionel Messi regularly on the right, Luis Suárez playing through the middle, while Neymar on the left.Together, Messi and Neymar have 26 and 17 goals respectively, the league’s second- and third-top scorers. And while the goals resisted to start with, Suárez’s work benefited his team-mates, giving them something they lacked: edge, aggression and high-pressing. A shift became apparent that was both a cause and a consequence of the way the three played: Barcelona began beating teams on the counterattack.
Atlético were beaten by a team that at times played like Atlético do. “We have two types of play that are very different,” Messi said. “We can play on the counter taking advantage of the space available because of the speed of our forwards, and we can also play the way that Barcelona always have. We have not lost the philosophy of playing with patience and combining.”
Messi, Neymar and Suárez were described by one newspaper this week as a “trident for the ages”. Until this weekend, they had played 15 games together, winning 13 and losing two — the first of those, Suárez’s debut against Real Madrid. They have scored 68 between them in all competitions: 37 for Messi, 24 for Neymar and seven for Suárez. They have also provided 32 assists: 18 for Messi, four for Neymar and 10 for Suárez. A week ago, Barcelona beat Levante 5-0, featuring another Messi hat-trick and — for the team’s fifth — a superb overhead kick from Suárez.
Asked after that game why he had not taken Messi off with the match won, Luis Enrique replied: “Why? The idea is to enjoy him as much as we can.” Messi, too, appeared to be enjoying himself. And that is the single most important factor of course. He looked faster and more involved than he has for a year.
“I am 27 now. I could do anything before and my body didn’t feel the effects,” he said. “Now I’m trying to rest better and control my food. I’m very happy about how things are going. Last season was not easy for me: my challenge is to be the player I was before.”
Over the last month, in which he has scored 26 goals, he may even have been better than before. And it all started at Anoeta.
“That defeat at Real Sociedad brought a change in attitude in the team,” Messi said last week. “The dressing room wanted to change the image it had given. And the change is very noticeable. Recently, we have gone out on to the pitch with more desire to pressure opponents and to attack them. We have to try to keep up the positive run.”
On Saturday, it came to an end. Tonight, Barcelona will hope that it starts up once again. — The Guardian
Online Reporter