Fans can be forgiven for entering panic mode after Lionel Messi’s latest injury. The Argentine ace, in sizzling form as of late, picked up a groin injury in the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid.
Although he will likely return in time for their Champions League clash with Manchester City, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be sidelined for three weeks. This means he could miss up to six games, two of which are World Cup qualifiers for Argentina.
Fortunately for the Blaugrana, stats show they can and have been able to cope extremely well without their legendary forward.
Since Luis Enrique arrived at Camp Nou, La Pulga has missed only 16 games for the Catalan giants. From those fixtures, only one ended in defeat for Barcelona: a 2-1 loss away to Sevilla.
There were also two draws against Villanovense and Valencia, meaning Barcelona won 13 of the 16 matches in which Leo was absent, albeit some of those were slim, nail-biting wins.
The 4-0 win in El Clasico was one memorable win without La Pulga’s influence; however, that famous triumph over Real Madrid does not count as the number 10 made a short cameo at the Bernabeu that day.
49 goals were scored whilst Leo was out, 11 each for fellow South American sensations Luis Suarez and Neymar. As a result, it’s safe to say Barcelona are in safe hands.
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