By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye
Spanish football pundit, Guillem Balague believes Lionel Messi is the reason why Barcelona aren’t playing spectacular football.
The Catalan side have had a fantastic start to the campaign, winning nine games and drawing against Atletico Madrid.
This fantastic run of victories, much to the delight of the fans, have seen them take an eight point lead ahead of current La Liga holders Real Madrid.
However, Ernesto Valverde’s men haven’t exactly been playing the best brand of football, which we usually associate with the Blaugrana.
Guillem Balague thinks it’s all down to the newly tweaked formation that Barcelona’s been playing. He thought Barcelona have done very well defensively, but are struggling without wingers.
“Barcelona have been very impressive defensively. Everybody is working very hard without the ball and they have only shipped three goals so far,” he told Sky Sports, as quoted by National Daily.
“But their football is not spectacular and there’s a couple of reasons why. They are playing without wingers, which tightens everything up in the central areas. With little space to work, their play becomes more industrial and Luis Suarez suffers.”
Balague thought Messi’s more central role is making it difficult for Suarez to find his feet, as he’s forced to work out of his comfort zone.
He added: “Now that Lionel Messi is working more through the middle, Suarez has to move wider. That’s not his natural habitat.”
Barcelona will face Olympiacos in the Champions League tonight, and a win will all but secure their place in the last 16 of the competition.