Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been in impeccable form since the famous fallout with Luis Enrique when the season resumed at the start of January. He continued his form after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory against Villarreal, which helped keep Barcelona in touch with Real Madrid at the top of the table.
Messi has been playing as a central striker on the last few years and this has been one of the reasons towards his impressive goal return. Against Villarreal, though, Luis Enrique moved the 27-year-old back to the wings. Even though he scored only a goal, which is rather low by the huge standards that he has set, Enrique believes that Messi can continue playing on the wing.
The arrival of Luis Suarez has led to Barcelona making some crucial changes to the formation and the way the team played. Suarez has continued to struggle for goals as it was Neymar and Messi who came to the club’s rescue this weekend. Suarez played for 78 minutes before being substituted but he did leave the field with an assist. Due to the poor form of the Uruguayan, the onus is on Messi and Neymar to score the goals on a regular basis.
“Messi playing on wing again? It’s for the good of the team, but he has freedom to move. We want him to touch the ball a lot. What does Suarez add? A lot. It’s crucial to have someone to push back the centre backs. The goals will come, no doubt. Iniesta is playing at best position now, more in centre, not as much from wing as before. I’m very happy with performances. Rafinha? He had a very complete game, like the others. This season, he needs to adapt a bit. No doubt he’ll be a key player for Barca,” said Enrique about the team’s individual players.