Barcelona could have greatest attacking combo ever in Messi, Neymar, Suarez
Luis Suarez is set to make his debut in El Clasico on Saturday, as his ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup finally concludes. Were he a lesser player, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu would be too high-pressured of a contest for the combustible forward's return.
However, Luis Suarez is no ordinary player.
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To categorize Suarez’s brilliance on the pitch, one should consider that the 27-year-old Uruguayan tied Cristiano Ronaldo for the European Golden Shoe award, which is given to the top scorer in all of Europe's domestic leagues. In his final season with Liverpool, Suarez scored as many goals (31) as Ronaldo and passed off more assists (14) than the Portuguese superstar despite getting limited support from the Reds and playing in a more balanced league than Real Madrid.
Scarier than Suarez biting yet another opponent, the Uruguayan brings Ronaldo-level attacking ability and talent to a team that already features Lionel Messi and Neymar, two players on respective paths to eclipsing fellow countrymen regarded as the game's greatest: Diego Maradona and Pele.
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Messi, Neymar and Suarez will play on the same team for the first time on Saturday. With all three in the prime of their sporting lives, Barcelona's trio – on paper – looks to be the greatest attacking combination of all time.
Yes, all time.
Neymar has a legitimate shot at being the greatest Brazilian player ever. He has scored over 200 professional goals and has already trekked more than halfway to Pele’s Brazilian national team record of 77 goals. Moreover, Neymar was given the captain’s armband of his country last month at the incredibly young age of 22.
Neymar's broken vertebra and subsequent absence from the ineffable 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany served to separate him from that painful end of Brazil’s World Cup, and he has rebounded from the injury quite nicely. Going into Saturday's match against Real Madrid, Neymar has scored in three straight matches and is averaging two goals per game over that stretch.
And by the way, it's Neymar, not Messi, who leads Barcelona in scoring for the 2014-15 campaign with 10 goals in all competitions.
The 27-year-old Messi appears to have rebounded from his World Cup hangover. The raw talent and natural scoring ability muddies the statistics when discussing the Argentine, but nine goals to start the season is hardly a slow start.
When it comes to Messi, watching his work rate and studying his acceleration are the best ways to gauge performance. The dribbling, passing and scoring touch will always be there for the little man from Rosario, but the frequency with which he performs his magic is the measuring stick. Right now, Messi looks sharp pulling rabbits out of hats while sawing his assistant in half and levitating.
With both Neymar and Messi in form, new manager Luis Enrique has Barcelona off to a near-perfect start in the Spanish league. Barça has yet to allow a single goal and has outscored opponents 22-0 to start the domestic campaign. Incredibly, Barcelona has accomplished all of this without one-third of its offensive identity.
Add Suarez to a mix of Neymar and Messi, and Barcelona may not only have the greatest attack in Spain, Europe and the world, but it also has the makings of the greatest attack ever. And what better way to debut that devastating trio than to unleash it on your biggest rival in the biggest club match on the planet – against Real Madrid in El Clasico.
Shahan Ahmed has covered the 2014 World Cup, 2013 Confederations Cup, English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Germany Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga for Yahoo! Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA
