The Uruguay international did the dirty
work as Luis
Enrique's side succeeded in adverse conditions to secure three vital
points against Granada on Saturday afternoonCOMMENT
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
Beauty and the beast. Barcelona faced another tough test against a defensive rival on a difficult pitch and at a kick-off time they notoriously dislike, but came through thanks largely to the efforts of one man. Luis Suarez showed the Catalans the way forward against Granada - and also the way to win ugly.
Ivan Rakitic played perhaps his best game in Barca colours behind the forwards and it was the Croatian midfielder who gave Luis Enrique's side the lead, but only after Suarez had forced goalkeeper Cala into a calamitous defensive error which left the former Sevilla man with the goal at his mercy.
The fluent football from Tuesday's 2-1 win at Manchester City was missing, but as at the Etihad, Suarez proved the difference between the two teams, this time poking home a second goal and later selflessly setting up Lionel Messi for a third after Granada had pulled the scores back to 2-1 from the penalty spot.
It wasn't pretty, but it was efficient. Barca had toiled in Andalucia already in 2014-15, claiming a fortunate 2-1 win at Almeria and drawing at Malaga, who also beat the Blaugrana at Camp Nou last weekend.
So this was a tough test of their title credentials, particularly as the Catalans were back in action at 15:00 GMT, a kick-off time they seem to struggle with, while they were forced to play on a particularly poor pitch.
"I have to congratulate the players from both teams for trying to string more than three passes together and achieving it at times," an ironic Enrique said after the game.
But in the absence of the side's usual pretty passing, Suarez happily did the dirty work. Aided by the excellent work-rate and vision of Rakitic (who also participated in all three goals), the Uruguayan demonstrated once again that he is unperturbed by adverse conditions. Unlike some of his team-mates, he is a man for all terrains.
And as time goes by, the much-maligned striker continues to improve his statistics. After playing a pivotal part in the first, the striker scored his 10th goal of the current campaign and added his 13th assist too. Not bad in 24 matches and that record will now surely get better and better in the weeks and months ahead.
More importantly than that, the 28-year-old was signed from Liverpool for afternoons like this one. Barca have so often been ruffled in previous seasons when the conditions are against them. But Suarez adds a more direct dimension to the Blaugrana forward line and he is happy to make the runs and put in the effort to help his team when situations seemingly suit the opposition.
"I know you will value him more for the goal," the Barca boss told reporters after the game. "But ever since he started playing for us he has been at a very high level. He brings a lot of things to this team and his work is still very special."
Indeed it is. Thanks to the striker's superb contribution on Saturday, Barca moved provisionally to within a point of Liga leaders Real Madrid at the top of the table and, more significantly, Suarez showed the Catalans that they can win ugly too.
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