Barcelona: Messi’s injury is Neymar’s gain

Neymar – ready to take on the mantle?

After the big 7-0 victory in the opening fixture against Levante, Barcelona were brought back to the harsh reality of the fact that teams are no longer as frightened of Barcelona as they once were. A Diego Simeone-drilled Atletico Madrid side put on a very impressive performance, more so in the first half than the second, in the Super Cup first leg, to leave the tie in the balance and retain a fair chance of winning the Super Cup in the return leg at the Camp Nou.

The 1-1 draw at the Calderon provided more than a couple of highlights for us to talk about, the first of them being the first goal from David Villa. One out of 10 times that kind of a shot would have resulted in a goal and fate has it that this should be the time that it happened. It was kind of a bitter-sweet moment for Barca fans such as me who love David Villa. While some of us might wonder, why on earth Villa was shipped off to a rival team which has the potential of making Barca drop points in the league, it seems the deal was that Barca would have first option on Oliver Torres, the 18-year old who came off the bench on the night. Any 18-year old who plays in the first team of a top flight side is obviously a talent to watch out for and in this case, Torres is termed as being the next Isco or Thiago or a mix of both. So, if you can look far into the future, this deal looks good enough for me.

The next item on the agenda is Messi’s injury. At the time of writing this, tests have revealed that Leo has bruised the femoral biceps tendon in his left thigh. Whatever that means, he is still doubtful for the Sunday clash against Malaga. Now, I was happy that Barca brought Neymar in to reduce Messi-dependence, but I wasn’t expecting a demo of it so soon. Going by what we saw in the two opening matches, Martino will not risk Messi if he is not 100% fit and it is better to have him fully fit for the return leg of the Super Cup.

Now, Neymar. He came on, with half-an-hour remaining and his team trailing by a goal. People naturally were expecting something from him and he sure did deliver to their expectations. A good header from a good Dani Alves cross that comes once in a blue moon, he got that crucial away goal which gives Barca a considerable advantage playing at home in the return leg. Apart from the goal, he did not scintillate much, but there is only so much you can do coming on as a substitute in your second game for the team.

The other players who are continuing to impress in this early part of the season are Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas and Javier Mascherano. Alexis has been the most impressive of them all. The defensive work-rate, which he always displayed is still there (he made the highest number of tackles against Atletico – 6, followed by Mascherano – 5), but he is also now a confident dribbler, willing to take on one, two and even three players instead of passing the ball back into midfield and relentlessly making runs to create spaces for others. It will be very difficult for Pedro and Tello to compete with him if he continues in this vein.

There has been much talk about Tata Martino’s tactics. In the first game, there had been a lot of pressing which was very much noticeable. But the other aspect which stood out was how wingers stayed wingers and how Alves and Adriano were not hugging the touchlines but instead drifted inside towards goal. That was how Alves scored and how Adriano won a penalty. However, against Atletico, it was business as usual for Alves and Alba and thus Barca were their former predictable selves. Maybe it was just a trial run for both formations, but I liked the first one. Orthodox wingers are trickier to defend against than full-backs.

We all know the Super Cup is not at the top of the list as far as trophies go. We also know the return leg will not reflect this at all. Atletico will dig their heels in and look for a scrappy win, while Barca will look to give their new coach his first trophy as a Barca manager. Amidst all this, there is a league game against Malaga, who are no pushovers even though Pelligrini and Isco have left. As always, every league game is important and if I had to make a choice, I would put everything behind the Malaga game rather than the Super Cup clash because Real Madrid has a very, very good squad and now that Gareth Bale has also arrived (I know that statement requires more pomp), Madrid looks more fearsome and they will not make things easy for Barca as they did last season.