FC Barcelona lost their star player Lionel Messi to a knee ligament in their weekend match against Las Palmas. It was supposed to be a knock he could shake off after minor treatment on the sidelines but it proved to be stronger than that and he was substituted few minutes later. It was later confirmed after the match that he had torn his knee ligament and would be on the sidelines for two months to recover. Barcelona fans immediately tipped Brazilian star Neymar Jr. to lead the team in Messi’s absence but it seems like that task is too heavy for the Brazilian forward as was seen by his poor performance tonight. Bayern Leverkusen took the lead in the 22nd minute when Kryiakos Papadopoulos jumped between Mathieu and Ter Stegen to head home a cross. After then, Barcelona needed a goal to go level and the best Neymar could come up with was a dive in the opposition’s eighteen yard box for which he was booked before his other attempt came off the post.
The first half ended with Barcelona trailing behind, they couldn’t afford to lose this one after drawing their first against AS Roma. The second half continued and the chances kept on coming but they couldn’t convert. Neymar was far from his best all night and it took the introduction of Sergi Roberto for Barcelona to level scores with just 10 minutes to go. Luis Suarez was again the hero as he got the winner for the home team just like he did during the weekend. With Messi out for other six or seven games, it is good to know that there is someone besides Neymar who can step up to the plate when the team needs him.