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FC Barcelona have had a bit of a shaky start to the Laliga season without their Talisman, Messi. Messi has been out of action since he injured his calf in pre-season. Barcelona started the season off with a loss to Atletic Bilbao, followed by a comfortable 5-2 at home to Betis. They then drew to Osasuna 2-2 and got another 5-2 victory at home against Valencia last weekend. Luckily for them, their rivals have also not started the season that well, and Barca are currently in 5th with 7 points only three behind Sevilla in first.
One positive that has come from Messi being injured, with Suarez also missing a couple of games, is that Barca have finally been able to bring through some of their La Masia players, who have not really had a chance recently. The real breakthrough star has been Ansu Fati, who became Barca’s youngest scorer at 16 years old and 10 months. He got the goal against Osasuna before the international break which earned him his first start against Sevilla. It took him only 2 minutes to score his second goal, and seven minutes to get an assist when he set up De Jong. The Barca fans will be very excited to see how this young man progresses.
Messi has returned to training and has been declared fit for the Champions League match tonight against Dortmund. Valverde will probably not risk him from the start but will definitely bring him on at some stage which will boost the team.
There has been some slight criticism of Barca’s two new big-money signings, Griezmann, and De Jong. Critics have said that they have not adapted well to Barca’s style and are hindering the team even if it is only after a few matches. Griezmann has only scored in one match since joining the club, whereas De Jong got his first goal and first assist in the match on the weekend. Others claim that it is Valverde’s fault and he is not utilizing them correctly and there are already calls for him to get the sack.
Barca’s fortunes will change and with the quality, in their squad, they will definitely be fighting for all titles but there is a concern that if the style does not really change and they lose a few more matches that they could look to find another manager.
