Barcelona pay heavy price after narrow win over Las Palmas
An injury to Lionel Messi overshadowed Barcelona's 2-1 win over Las Palmas as the Argentina forward was ruled out for up to eight weeks with a torn ligament in his knee.
Luis Suarez's double was enough for Barca to pick up the win, but they were more concerned with the well-being of their inspirational frontman, who lasted only nine minutes of the match before suffering the injury in a clash with Pedro Bigas.
While Messi was taken to hospital for tests, Suarez struck twice and might have had a hat-trick before Jonathan Viera's deflected goal late on set up a nervy finish.
After the match, Barca announced that Messi was facing an extended spell on the sidelines.
"Messi has a tear in the internal collateral ligament of his left knee," the club said via Twitter. "He will be out for around 7-8 weeks."
Barca needed a tranquil afternoon following their 4-1 defeat to Celta Vigo in midweek, their heaviest loss in the league for seven years, but the Nou Camp was shocked by the sight of Messi needing treatment in the penalty area with just three minutes gone.
The Argentinian, who has been injury-free since a hamstring problem in November 2013, initially tried to continue but was soon replaced by Munir El Haddadi.
Even without their captain, Barca still dominated the play and after squandering a couple of chances Suarez put them ahead, appearing at the far post to nod home a wonderful hanging cross from Sergi Roberto, who has reinvented himself this season as a right back.
Suarez then had Barca fans biting their nails as he clutched his shoulder in pain towards the end of the first half, but the Uruguayan was able to continue. He presented Neymar with a goalscoring chance just before the half-time whistle, but the Brazilian fired wide of the near post.
Las Palmas played a predictably cautious game but created a couple of chances of their own, only to fail to properly test Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barca goal.
The Catalans looked to have sealed the game seven minutes after the break through a magnificent team goal. Neymar spread the play out to the right wing towards Munir, who raked a pass along the floor. Sergio Busquets looked set to hit the ball but instead stepped over the ball and left it for Suarez to power into the roof of the net.
Suarez was in the mood and flicked the ball over the head of Antolin Alcaraz in the area, and the former Wigan player stuck out a hand to give away a penalty.
Suarez declined to the chance to seal his hat-trick as Neymar stepped up, but the Brazilian - who has been hit by the news that his assets have been frozen in Brazil as part of a tax investigation - sent the ball high into the stand.
Las Palmas made for an interesting finale by scoring with three minutes to go. Javier Mascherano was dispossessed in his own half and the ball dropped to Viera, whose shot was diverted past Ter Stegen with the help of a deflection off Gerard Pique.
Substitute Sandro Ramirez should have given Barca an extra cushion a couple of minutes later when Neymar teed him up by the near post, but the youngster sent the ball into the side netting.
