Leganes vs Barcelona: 5 talking points

Messi Leganes Paulinho Barcelona Suarez — *****

It was a pretty satisfying day for Barcelona as they not only managed to pick up a routine win over Leganes in what was a tricky tie but also managed to open up a 10-point lead over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Going into the game, Barcelona were pretty confident as they had beaten Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao in the league prior to the international break. Leganes certainly didn’t make it easy for them and just when it looked like the hosts could hold out for a draw, Luis Suarez decided to finally end his goalless spell.

The Uruguayan’s brace and Paulinho’s third made it a rout, but it didn’t tell the entire story of the game. Here are three talking points from the game:

#5 Luis Suarez’s goal-drought ends

For more than two and half months, the Uruguayan scuffed shots, hit the woodwork, skied routine finishes and had such a bad touch that you’d be forgiven as a Barcelona fan if you didn’t want him at the club. But Suarez has perhaps never had such a bad spell of form ever at any other club, so you can’t rule out him coming back into form.

While the arrival of a new manager somewhat affected his form – as he was shifted to a wider role – he was still putting in the work which is why Ernesto Valverde wasn’t hesitant about deciding to name him on the teamsheet regularly.

Suarez needed a bit of luck and that came in the clash against Leganes as he scored off two rebounds. While the first was extremely lucky as goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar failed to collect a Paco Alcacer cross (in truth, he should have punched it away to avoid the whole scenario), the second was a free-flowing Barcelona move that ended with Suarez’s shot being deflected into the net.

The brace will act as a confidence booster and with a clash against Juventus coming up, Barca now have two forwards – Alcacer and Suarez -- who now have tasted at least some success in finding the back of the net.