Time and time again Barcelona has suffered whenever the backbone of the team, Lionel Messi, doesn’t feature or has a bad day. Many would love to say it’s not so but it’s no rocket science.
He was missed again on Tuesday as Barcelona drew 1-1 at home to struggling Eibar in La Liga as injured Messi watched from the sidelines.
Barcelona were flat up until struggling Eibar took a shock lead in the 57th minute through Kike Garcia. But Barca was pulled back into the game by substitute Ousmane Dembele who levelled 10 minutes later.
The game might have turned out differently had Martin Braithwaite not missed a penalty in the first half. He also endured a miserable evening as VAR chalked off his goal as he was found offside and was denied what seemed a sure winner from point-blank range when the ball bounced off his chest on the rebound and went wide.
Messi, who is still recovering from an ankle problem had returned to Barcelona from Argentina earlier on Tuesday but watched from the stands as his team-mates lacked a cutting edge.
Koeman’s side slip to sixth in the table, seven points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, who have played two fewer games.
Watch the highlights of the match below
Other La Liga actions from Tuesday…
