Iniesta’s hamstring adds to Barca injury woes

Luis Suarez completed a dramatic late comeback for Barcelona as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

And then Suarez sealed the victory in the 82nd minute, benefiting from a brilliant piece of skill from Munir to earn Barca their first victory in the Champions League this season.

Messi suffered a ligament tear in his left knee in a 2-1 win over Las Palmas and will be sidelined for seven-to-eight weeks as a result.

For reigning champions Barca, who were without their injured talisman Lionel Messi, it was a frustrating game of missed chances until their pressure told.

“You can hear the whistling very clearly from the pitch and this team doesn’t deserve that”.

In a statement released by Barca, it confirmed that the injury was so serious that it would require Messi to rest up to two months.

ESPN also observed that Barca “looked particularly vulnerable” as they struggled to put their possessions to good use.

“Today we saw the attitude the players have… everyone worked hard right to the end of the game and it is like that in every match“, concluded the Barca coach. Fans have taken to Twitter to express their disdain with memes and messages regarding the situation.

Sandro Ramirez was the man given the unenviable task of replacing Messi and almost repaid coach Luis Enrique’s faith as he played a lovely one-two with Suarez before Leno pulled off a spectacular save to turn the 20-year-old’s effort behind.

Mario Goetze added his second of the campaign before Poland captain Lewandowski chipped keeper Eduardo in the 55th minute for his third goal as Bayern moved to a maximum six points from two Group F matches.

But that defiant political chants soon turned into the shrill whistles of annoyed football fans as a Barcelona side that still boasted loads of world-class talent was outplayed by the much more modest Leverkusen.

“We were a lot better in the second half and I am happy the way the team always gives its all. It is a challenge for us to be without the best player in the world, but it also provides an incentive for us”. At 2-1, we don’t need the support but at 0-1 we do.

“Barca have the quality they have and nothing happens by chance”.

Mourinho later admitted that the first-half performance at St James’ Park was Chelsea’s worst under his management, rating it as “minus one” Roma are the favourites heading into the game in Belarus, although the Italian side make the trip without Edin Dzeko, Francesco Totti and Seydou Keita, who are all injured.