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Lionel Messi is back for Barcelona but he’s rejoined a different side

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Lionel Messi marked his return to the Barcelona starting line-up with two goals in their 6-1 win over Roma in the Champions League. He has returned to a Barca side that looks stronger for the experience of playing without him, writes Adam Bate...

"There is no such thing as an invincible side," said Roma boss Rudi Garcia ahead of his team's trip to the Nou Camp. With Lionel Messi back, you can't quite be sure. 

The main man is fit again and excitement is the only appropriate response. Messi had been out of Barcelona's starting line-up for 10 matches due to a ligament problem in his left knee but it didn't take too long for him to mark his return with a goal. It was a beauty too, chipping Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to double Barcelona's lead at the Nou Camp.

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Appropriately, all three of Barcelona's superstar forwards were involved. Neymar had prompted it, threading a ball forward to Messi's feet before the Argentine exchanged passes with Luis Suarez to escape away down the left channel and the rest was a formality. The sort of impossibly delicate formality that Messi has mastered over the past decade.

Lionel Messi
Image: Messi's first goal involved a series of interchanges with Neymar and Suarez

The game was 18 minutes old and yet Messi had already tested Szczesny with an early shot, had a tap-in disallowed for offside and missed the target with another one-on-one chance even before his goal. Ultimately, Messi added a second goal as well as an assist as Roma were dispatched 6-1. The Barca fans could saunter home revelling in the knowledge that football's most devastating forward line has been reunited.

Roma were entitled to feel unfortunate. Here, they were the sacrificial lamb at the reunion feast. Garcia had joked in his pre-match press conference that he prefers watching Neymar and pals on television than from the bench and on this evidence it's easy to see why. Against Barcelona's trident, any semblance of control is merely an illusion and no more than a fleeting one at that.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi (L) vies with Roma's Konstantinos Manolas during the Champions League Group E game at the Nou Camp
Image: Messi picked up where he left off with a fine performance against Roma

Messi, Neymar and Suarez scored 122 goals between them last season - two coming in the Champions League final as they secured this trophy in May. In hindsight, perhaps the identity of the scorers in Berlin foreshadowed the events of this season. It was Neymar and Suarez - not Messi - who got the goals that night. At the time, it felt like a quirk. It has since taken on greater significance.

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Messi has only missed two months of football but while he has slotted back in seamlessly, something has changed at Barcelona in the intervening period. Neymar and Suarez have embraced the added responsibility that has been heaped upon them in Messi's absence. In the process, they have carried Barca to the top of La Liga. Crucially, they've shown that it can be done without him.

Neymar celebrates with Luis Suarez
Image: Neymar and Suarez took on greater responsibility while Messi was out

That didn't seem likely when Barca lost 2-1 at Sevilla in the first league game following his injury. Neymar had impressed and the performance was hardly calamitous. And yet, Sevilla boss Unai Emery's claim on the eve of the game that it was "the perfect time" to play the champions had proven prophetic and Marca talked afterwards of the "shadow" of Messi hanging over the team.

It could have been the start of a sequence of matches in which the team's title hopes were damaged. Instead, Neymar promptly scored four times next time out against Rayo Vallecano and Barcelona went on to net 17 goals in their next five La Liga games - winning the lot. At the weekend, they were three up in the Bernabeu even before Messi made his comeback from the bench.

Barcelona goals with Messi out

Player Goals
Neymar 11
Luis Suarez 11
Ivan Rakitic 2
Andres Iniesta 1
Sergi Roberto 1

It has always felt ludicrous to downplay Messi's goalscoring heroics and likewise those of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. Indeed, that remains the case. But the recent performances of both Neymar and Suarez have at least given pause for thought. How many could they score if they became the focal point of teams this good? Plenty on this evidence.

Certainly, Messi's unavailability has not affected the team's overall scoring rate. In fact, Barcelona scored more goals in those 10 games than they had in the previous 10. Suarez had scored three goals in his eight appearances prior to Messi's injury but has blossomed without him. The Uruguayan scored 11 times in 857 minutes with Messi off the pitch and Neymar matched him goal for goal.

Neymar
Image: Neymar shone throughout the period of Messi's injury, scoring consistently

The Brazilian, in particular, has flourished. Serving a suspension for his country, he used the October international break to build up his fitness and even trial a new diet, seemingly steeling himself for the challenge of taking up Messi's mantle. The response has been emphatic, although Neymar does seem to have inherited the maestro's struggles from the penalty spot given his tame effort late on against Roma.

It's easy to imagine an awkward conversation in that regard now that the king of Catalonia is back. But in truth, the sight of Barcelona looking so strong without Messi is only positive. Any fear of life without him has been assuaged. "We are showing at the moment that we do have other options," Barcelona coach Luis Enrique told reporters. "We're playing well but we will always miss Messi."

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi, Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar da Silva Santos Junior and Barcelona's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez
Image: Luis Suarez, Neymar and Messi scored 122 goals between them last season

Barca defender Thomas Vermaelen agreed. "I'd rather have him on the pitch than off the pitch because I think he is the best in the world," said the Belgian. "But we have other players who can make the difference. Neymar is one of them. He steps up." With that in mind, perhaps it was the breakthrough goal against Roma rather than Messi's comeback effort that was more important.

Neymar whipped a right-footed pass in behind the defence for the onrushing Dani Alves and Suarez was there to accept the square pass into the empty net. Messi was not involved. Forced to find new solutions, his Barcelona team-mates have gone and done it. That will breed confidence. The sort of confidence evident when Suarez crashed home his second of the night on the volley.

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As a result, the suspicion is that Barcelona could become a more robust side for their experiences over the past couple of months. They were already the best. But the best might just have got better. Even without Messi, Barca proved to themselves and the world that they are formidable. Now that they know that, with him, they might just prove to be invincible after all.

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