Suárez double sinks Las Palmas but Barça lose Messi for two months

Luis Suárez scored twice as Barça returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Las Palmas this afternoon. However, the win was soured by a knee injury to Leo Messi that could see the Argentinian sidelined for two months. Messi was injured in the third minute when Las Palmas defender Pedro Bigas blocked his shot and the first reports suggest he has torn his interior cruciate ligament and will need 7-8 weeks to recover. 

Barça look to bounce back against Las Palmas

Barça face newly-promoted Las Palmas at Camp Nou tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 4 pm) with the need to recover after the shock 4-1 defeat at Celta. Individual defensive errors and a lack of intensity have been blamed as the pricipal causes for the disaster in Vigo which has seen Barça drop to fifth in the table, a point behind leaders Real Madrid, Celta and Villarreal.

Barça brought down to earth in Vigo

Barça came unstuck tonight in Vigo, ripped apart by a splendid Celta side that demonstrated a greater desire for the victory. Barça transfer target Nolito curled in a brilliant goal in the 26th minute to put the Galician side in front before Iago Aspas doubled the lead four minutes later after a mistake by Gerard Piqué. Aspas grabbed his second of the night ten minutes after half-time to put Celta three up. Neymar Jr pulled back a consolation goal but Celta substitute John Guidetti completed Barça’s misery by making it 4-1 before the end.

Piqué returns for leaders Barça at Celta

Gerard Piqué returns to league action following his four-match suspension as Barça take on Celta de Vigo at Balaidos tomorrow night (Wednesday 8.00 pm). Without Piqué, the defending champions have begun La Liga 2015/16 with four straight victories and Luis Enriqué will be looking to extend the 100% record in order to maintain the early advantage over closest rivals Real Madrid who also play tomorrow at Athletic Club at San Mames. 

Barça see off Levante to stay top of La Liga

Barça stay top of La Liga for another week after a 4-1 victory over Levante at Camp Nou tonight. Following a disappointing goalless first half, Marc Bartra broke the deadlock in the 50st minute before a goal from Neymar and a Leo Messi penalty made it 3-0 on the hour. Victor Casadesús pulled a goal back for the visitors after a Ter Stegen mistake and there was time for Messi to fire another penaty over the crossbar before the Argentinian completed the scoring with a fine individual effort.

Dani Alves set to return against Levante

Early league leaders Barça take on Levante at Camp Nou tomorrow evening (Sunday 8.30 pm) with the goal of maintaining the two-point advantage over closest rivals Real Madrid. Gerard Piqué will serve the last of his four-match suspension while Luis Enrique is also without the injured Claudio Bravo, Douglas, Thomas Vermaelen and Rafinha. The good news is that Dani Alves is fit again and should return at right-back. Gerard Gumbau from Barça B has been called up to the first team again to make up the 18-man squad for the game.

Rafinha out for at least six months

The worst possible news was announced today when it was confirmed that Rafinha has a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee which will see the player out of action for a minimum of six months. Rafinha will undergo an operation soon and in the best of scenarios he will return to training at the end of March. The Brazilian midfielder was injured shortly after coming on in last night’s Champions League game at Roma after a tackle from behind by Radja Nainggolan. It is the second time this year that Nainggolan has seriously injured a player after he broke the leg of Chievo’s Federico Mattiello in a Serie A match in March.

Barça tamed by Florenzi wondergoal

Champions League defending champions Barça began the quest for back-to-back titles with a 1-1 draw at AS Roma tonight. Luis Enrique’s men got off to an excellent start when Luis Suárez headed in from Ivan Rakitic’s cross in the 21st minute. Barça looked well in control at this point but ten minutes later, out of the blue, Roma’s right-back Alessandro Florenzi scored a remarkable goal from 50 yards to equalize. The draw will not worry Barça as much as the knee injury suffered by Rafinha just a minute after coming on as a substitute. The young midfielder was stretchered off and could be out for months.

Champions League preview: AS Roma vs FC Barcelona

Barça begin their defence of the Champions League tomorrow night with a tough game at AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium in Rome (Wednesday 8.45 pm). No team has ever won back-to-back Champions Leagues which makes this season’s competition even more desirable for Luis Enrique’s men.

Papi Messi sinks Atlético

Leo Messi celebrated the birth of his second son by coming off the bench to score Barça’s winner in a deserved 1-2 victory over Atlético Madrid. There was a big surprise an hour before kick-off when the teamsheets appeared with Messi only featuring as a substitute. Luis Enrique obviously felt that the experience of becoming a father again, on top of 17,000 kilometres of plane flights during the international break, would have jaded the Argentinian maestro. But with the score at 1-1 after Neymar’s free-kick had cancelled out Fernando Torres’s 51st minute strike, the Barça coach called for Messi who responded by grabbing the winner with 13 minutes to go.