A case of deja vu for misfiring Suarez

BARCELONA: The La Liga season may only be a week old but Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is showing similar signs of the struggles he faced at the start of the last campaign, which may prove a stumbling block to his side retaining their title.

Tomorrow, Barca visit Real Valladolid, who are back in the top flight after a four-year absence and pulled off a surprise victory in their last game against Barca to derail the Catalans’ title bid in 2014.

Barca had a 3-0 home win over Alaves in their opener but the score flattered Ernesto Valverde’s side, who needed a Lionel Messi free-kick to break the deadlock midway through the second half.

Before that, Barca had looked relatively toothless in attack, getting forward frequently through French forward Ousmane Dembele and a deep-lying Messi, but lacking the power and aggression Suarez is renowned for.

The Uruguayan struggled to dovetail with his strike partners and his only positive contribution was a cross for Messi to chest down and score the final goal.

That limp performance followed a sluggish display from Suarez in the Spanish Super Cup 2-1 win over Sevilla, and came after a World Cup where he largely underperformed despite Uruguay reaching the quarter-finals.

Although Suarez has plenty of time to hit back, his struggles are reminiscent of his tardy start to last season when he only scored three goals in 14 games in all competitions and went five matches without finding the net.

Valverde insists he has no concerns, but if the Uruguayan fails to put in a strong performance against Valladolid, who drew 0-0 with Girona in their first game back in the top flight, those concerns will only grow. - Reuters