La Liga 2019/20: Messi less Barcelona starts it’s league campaign with a loss

XtraTime Web Desk: A Lionel Messi less Barcelona have started their campaign in La Liga 2019-20 season on a demoralizing note as they lost their first game 1-0 against Athletic Bilbao due to stunning late goal from Aritz Aduriz. It was a game where Barcelona had its fair chances to get a result, but the injury bug struck again with Luis Suarez leaving the game early before Aduriz put it out of reach late with what will be the goal of the week. 

Messi hasn’t played for Barca since the Copa del Rey final loss to Valencia in May. Part of that is due to being on international duty with Argentina at the Copa America. He’s missed club friendlies in the past month, including the United States preseason tour against Napoli, due to a calf strain. He’s obviously not at 100 percent, which is why he was rested in this one and not risked. While that may have been the smart thing to do, at the end of the day Barca could have used Messi at 75 percent.

Barca had just two shots on goal, and while they got the ball down the wing and into the box, they never felt like much of a threat outside of a few occasions. To their credit, they did hit the frame of the goal twice, but a lot of the chances came off individual bits of play. The teamwork to create golden chances just wasn’t there. 

Suarez lasted just 37 minutes in this one, Antoine Griezmann didn’t look like much of a threat and the team just lacked accuracy and sharpness. Without Messi, this team is still quite good, but they are nowhere near as good as they are with him. Still, it’s just one game.

Going out in the first half was Suarez, and being substituted for a midfielder in Rafinha showed the intention of coach Ernesto Valverde to be more defensive. But the truth is, just like last year, this team doesn’t have another striker who can fill the gap. Paco Alcacer didn’t work out and he was shipped to Borussia Dortmund last season, and this game was a lot like last year’s Copa del Rey final where the team just couldn’t create chances from close without the presence of a big striker. Whether this makes the Barca bosses a bit more rushed in possibly bringing in another attacker like Neymar, they would be wise to find a true No. 9 that can be the striker of the future or at least be a formidable player that can come in and provide some depth behind Suarez. Sending Griezmann up top as the lone striker just isn’t going to cut it.