Barcelona talking points: Messi majestic, Suarez back, Braithwaite off mark as Griezmann struggles

1/27
Ben Hayward14 June 2020

Barcelona returned to action in some style with an emphatic 4-0 win away to Mallorca in LaLiga on Saturday night.

Quique Setien's side showed few signs of rustiness after more than three months of inactivity due to coronavirus as Arturo Vidal opened the scoring with just over a minute on the clock.

Martin Braithwaite added another later in the half, before late strikes from Jordi Alba and the outstanding Lionel Messi made it a comprehensive victory at Son Moix.

Barca move provisionally five points clear of rivals Real Madrid, in action on Sunday, and Setien said: "It's a good start for the sprint of 10 games we have left."

Majestic Messi drops deep to pull the strings

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Lionel Messi spoke recently about how much he had missed playing and Mallorca will not have relished being the Argentine's first rivals after three months without competitive football.

Barca's captain was determined and despite conserving his energy for much of the game, he dropped deep to torment the home side in a playmaking masterclass which yielded two assists and a late goal scored with his right foot.

Messi's heatmap showed he operated virtually as a midfielder, allowing Sergi Roberto to overlap on the right and playing precise through-balls for his team-mates.

His performance also featured some superb dribbling as he made it 20 goals and 14 assists for the season in LaLiga. The rest has been welcome and keeping him fit will be key to Barca's title hopes.

Luis Suarez is back and will get better

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Luis Suarez had to wait for his opportunity from the bench following five months on the sidelines, but the Uruguayan was brought on in the second half for his first minutes under Setien.

The 33-year-old had a couple of shots and linked up well with Messi in just over half an hour on the pitch and although he did not look at his sharpest, his return represents good news for Barcelona ahead of a busy run-in.

"I'm sure we are going to see more things from him as the championship goes on," Setien said afterwards.

"But he was spectacular when you consider the time he has been out."

Braithwaite off the mark as Griezmann struggles

Photo: AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

Martin Braithwaite could have lost faith when his dream move to Barcelona was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic after he had made only three appearances and with Suarez back by the time LaLiga was ready to start again, but the Dane kept on working and he was rewarded on Saturday.

Not only did the former Leganes striker start instead of Suarez, but he took his chance as well to score his first goal for the Catalan club, earning praise from Setien in the process.

"He moved really well on the left and he scored a goal. I'm satisfied," the coach said. And the striker himself said: "I've waited a long time for this moment."

Braithwaite also stayed on the pitch when Suarez came on, with Antoine Griezmann making way instead. The Frenchman worked hard, but after another indifferent display, his place may be under threat from Barca's most-recent (and much cheaper) signing.

Araujo's assured display

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

With Clement Lenglet suspended and Samuel Umtiti not 100 per cent fit, Setien handed a first Barcelona start to young Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo and he did not disappoint alongside Gerard Pique at the back.

The 21-year-old's only previous first-team appearance had come as a substitute in a 4-0 win over Sevilla last October, when he was harshly sent off just 14 minutes after replacing Jean-Clair Todibo.

And with Todibo now at Schalke on loan and up for sale, Araujo has staked his claim to be the fourth or even third-choice central defender at the Catalan club after an assured display on Saturday.

"He played as a left-sided centre-back, which is not habitual for him," Setien said. "He responded really well."

Five substitutions and still no Riqui Puig

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

When Riqui Puig came off the bench and helped up set up the winning goal in Setien's first game as Barcelona coach in January, it looked like the talented midfielder would receive many more opportunities.

But the 20-year-old has made just two first-team appearances since: 71 minutes in the Copa del Rey away to Segunda B side Ibiza in January and just three more in LaLiga against Levante in early February.

On Saturday, he could not hide his frustration on the bench as Setien sent on Nelson Semedo, Arthur and finally Junior Firpo, having already introduced Ivan Rakitic (for his 300th Barca appearance) and Suarez.

With 10 more matches ahead, he should get a chance at some stage, but surely deserves to be playing a little more than he has since Setien arrived.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in