Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Barcelona: 5 talking points - UEFA Champions League 2017/18

#5 Has Neymar's departure helped balance Barcelona?

Is Neymar's departure a blessing in disguise?

When Neymar secured his shock world record €222m move to Paris Saint-Germain in August, many had predicted the end of Barcelona. The heavy two-legged defeat against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana further fueled this notion.

However, Ernesto Valverde with ample support from Lionel Messi and company has been able to steady what looked like a sinking ship and it now appears that maybe losing Neymar helped Barcelona become a more balanced and complete outfit.

While the loss of the Brazilian has forced most, if not all, of the creative burden on the shoulders of Messi, it has helped the Camp Nou outfit add more balance to their game.

Earlier, with Messi and Neymar, Barcelona had two players who enjoyed complete creative freedom and had little to no responsibility of helping in the defensive aspects of the game. However, with Messi the only player being given complete freedom, Barcelona have more bodies to help them when they don't have the ball and this has helped them churn out results from situations, which they earlier faltered from.

While this is too early into the season and too soon after Neymar's departure but early signs are that it could be a blessing in disguise.