Barcelona's hidden health benefit in losing Neymar to mumps
Neymar has the mumps and will miss roughly two weeks, but that may be more good than bad for Barcelona’s hopes of winning everything this season.
Everything means repeating the treble, and the UEFA Super Cup is not part of that. Frankly, neither is the two-legged Spanish Super Cup. If Barcelona wins La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League again, the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup will hardly draw a mention regardless of the result.
The Brazilian will be missed as Barcelona’s three-headed monster forms an unstoppable attacking trio. But Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and the lot should have plenty of firepower to beat Sevilla on Tuesday. Sevilla should not be a high hurdle for Barcelona even without Neymar partially because Sevilla’s back-to-back European campaigns have come at the price of selling both Ivan Rakitic and Aleix Vidal to Barcelona.
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With top scorer Carlos Bacca gone to AC Milan and Stephane Mbai leaving for Turkey, three of Sevilla’s key starters from the 2015 Europa League final are no longer with the club. Bacca scored twice, including the winning goal, in the final, so the impact of his departure alone should tilt the favor in Barcelona’s direction further.
Last season, Barcelona smashed Sevilla 5-1 at the Camp Nou before drawing 2-2 in Seville. That 2-2 draw, however, came after Barcelona led 2-0 and gave up two goals in the hostile atmosphere of the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Even without Neymar, Barcelona should topple Sevilla on Tuesday in Tbilisi, Georgia, which figures to display a ratio of 100 Messi jerseys for every Ever Banega shirt.
After Tuesday’s match in Georgia, Barcelona faces tough tests against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames in Bilbao on Friday and at the Camp Nou on Monday, Aug. 17. Three games in seven days is a strained schedule at any point in the season, but at the start, it is especially brutal for a team that had key players like Messi and Javier Mascherano join late following a shortened vacation due to the 2015 Copa America.
Neymar also joined late due to his involvement in Copa America, and the mumps could give the Brazilian a painfully needed extended rest. At the start of La Liga, Neymar’s forced time off the pitch may prove to be an asset in the same manner Vidal and Arda Turan’s January club debuts may ultimately lift a battered squad at the business end of the season.
A recovered and healthy Neymar to start the La Liga campaign featuring away trips to Bilbao and Atletico Madrid could be the difference between winning La Liga and falling three points short, especially if Pedro’s move to Manchester United goes through.
Barcelona is obviously better with Neymar on the pitch, but a little extra time off the pitch in the preseason super cups may ultimately lead to his body recovering better and lasting longer for the competitions that actually count.
Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports helping covering the beautiful game globally. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass
