Lionel Messi is responsible for Luis Suarez’s poor start to the season

In his previous three seasons at the club, Luis Suarez has scored an impressive 124 goals in 159 matches for Barcelona. The Uruguayan hitman secured a big move from Liverpool to Barcelona and was expected to shine at the Nou Camp.

But he did even better than that as he was part of the legendary MSN trio and helped Barcelona achieve European dominance. His amazing work rate coupled with world class ability has seen Suarez become one of the best strikers of his generation.

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Now the striker is going through a bad patch at the club prompting speculation that he is past his peak and should be sold in the near future. While Suarez has had a poor season so far, it would be unfair to blame it solely on his age.

Early on in the season, Suarez suffered a knee injury which may require surgery. But with summer signing Ousmane Dembele already on the treatment table Suarez decided to play through his pain and delayed the surgery.

Also, Messi has started the season in typically brilliant fashion with 16 goals in the first 15 matches. With Messi being in splendid form, Valverde decided to play Messi through the middle in an effort to give him the ball at most times.

This has seen Suarez move out to the right wing, something that he is not comfortable with. Playing on the wings has also affected his goal output as the striker no longer finds himself as the focal point of the team.

So I guess Messi is partly responsible for Suarez’s slump in form.