Messi banned for Barca too

Sports Desk: While the football world was struggling to get its head around the four-game ban handed to Lionel Messi for using a common local insult in Argentina's game with Chile, it was easy to forget he has another suspension to serve for Barcelona against Granada on Sunday, which will test the theory of "Messi dependencia" at a crucial moment in the season.

As the little magician smashed in two goals in the 4-2 win over Valencia just before the international break, surpassing the 40-goal mark in all competitions for an eighth consecutive season, it almost went unnoticed that he also picked up a fifth yellow card of the league campaign, ruling him out of the trip to Granada, the first of 10 games Barca have left to catch Real Madrid at the top of the table.

This suspension naturally received far less attention than Messi's severe ban for Argentina, which could wreck the Albiceleste's chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Argentina's dismal record without Messi is well-known -- just one win in their last seven World Cup qualifiers without him -- and Barca do not always cope well when their all-time top scorer is missing either.

Messi has missed three league games this season and Barca have only won one of them, beating Sporting Gijon 5-0 in September while he was nursing a groin injury. They lost 4-3 at Celta Vigo while he was still out and then drew 0-0 with Malaga in November when he was absent with a stomach bug.

Barca suffered their biggest shock of the season when Messi was rested along with a host of other regular starters against newly promoted Alaves in September, with him being unable to prevent the 2-1 defeat when he came on in the second half. The Catalans also drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid when Messi had to be withdrawn due to the groin injury, conceding the equaliser just moments after he came off.

In Luis Enrique's side's favour on Sunday is the dearth of quality in the Granada side, who have won just four games all season and are 19th, seven points adrift of safety after losing their last three games.

Yet as Barca will no doubt remember, Lucas Alcaraz's side are no pushovers, despite their position in the table. They had no shame in putting 10 men behind the ball when they visited the Camp Nou in October and starved Barca of clear opportunities for most of the game, the Catalans only scraping a 1-0 win.

Granada are slowly getting results, too, winning three of their last four home games, and made Atletico sweat for a 1-0 victory in their last game at the Nuevo Los Carmenes.

Granada's ground holds mixed memories for Barca in recent years. It was in the picturesque Andalusian city the Catalans clinched last season's Liga title on the final day of the season with a 3-0 win, powered by a Luis Suarez hat trick.

It was also there that they stumbled to a 1-0 defeat in April 2014 which marked the start of a late season wobble which ultimately wrecked their chances of winning the league.

Any slip up this weekend would surely also prove fatal for Barca's hopes of retaining the Liga crown this season, as Real Madrid host Alaves hours earlier and are likely to temporarily extend their lead at the top from two points to five, still with a game in hand against Celta to come in May.

Barca have struggled in away games at sides near the bottom this campaign, drawing 1-1 at Real Betis in January and losing 2-1 to Deportivo La Coruna in March, and will need everyone to be at the top of their game, especially without Messi, who has carried them for much of this unpredictable season.

Source: espn.in


risingbd/Dhaka/Apr 1, 2017/Aminul/Nasim