“We battled hard and tried to play our game despite the weather and the main thing is that we got a point”, full-back Maicon told re-porters.
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And if that’s not enough bad news for the Italians, Barca superstar Lionel Messi will be making his first start for the first time in two months after suffering a knee injury. “The draw between Borisov and Leverkusen leaves fate in our hands”. Barcelona just kept attacking and giving it to them. We’re not short. [Iago] Falque is an excellent player, as is [Juan] Iturbe who has the attributes to replace Salah.
Aside from the guys that scored, Enrique also heaped praises for Sergio Roberto who he calls the “wild card” of the team.
Messi made sure his presence was quickly felt, grabbing a brace against the Serie A outfit, finding the back of the net first in the 18th minute and then again in the 60th minute.
The trio of Neymar, Suarez and Messi mesmerised Roma’s defence at the Nou Camp.
Gent, whose fans were prevented from traveling because of security fears, won 2-1 at Lyon thanks to Kalifa Coulibaly’s late goal to move into second spot behind Zenit.
Edin Dzeko managed to score a consolation goal for Roma in the dying moments for Roma, getting them on the score sheet.
A Dzeko penalty was saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen after he was fouled by Thomas Vermaelen before the Bosnian striker finally found the net in the dying seconds.
Coach Luis Enrique: “We take every game with the seriousness and necessity to know that in the most important stretch of the season it will be important to create this kind of pressure to get good results”. He has created 29 chances in Messi’s absence – more than any other Barca player, with Sergio Roberto sitting second on eight. Suarez had three efforts; two on target.
Suarez gave Barca the lead but Alessandro Florenzi scored an extraordinary goal from a seemingly impossible position on the right touchline, almost 50 metres from goal, to level. “We played a flawless game”.
“Messi is the best and I feel very happy for him for his goals and because he played the entire match”, Suarez said.
“I can’t blame the players for anything, aside from not using the ball better and scoring a few goals in the opening 45”.
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Having been thumped in the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the season and followed that with two league defeats, the Catalan club are now nine games unbeaten.
