BARCELONA
LaLiga's 'señor' returns to the field on Saturday night
Messi, the winner of 10 LaLiga titles, returns to the field for Barcelona as his new partnership with Griezmann and Suárez kicks off against Granada.
LaLiga's 'señor' returns this weekend after four weekends without him. A soleus injury had kept Leo Messi out through the first four games but a cameo appearance against Borussia Dortmund means he is ready to take to the field against with Barcelona travelling to Granada.
The winner of ten league titles, just two shy of the record held by Paco Gento, should start on Saturday night at Los Carmenes. They have win seven points in their opening four games with two wins against Real Betis and Valencia along with a draw against Osasuna and that opening night loss to Athletic Bilbao. But with Messi back, they will be eyeing Sevilla, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid in the top three spots.
Granada, for their part, have the same number of points with wins over Celta Vigo and Espanyol along with a 4-4 draw with Villarreal and a loss to league leaders, Sevilla. It's their best start in almost 50 years when they finished sixth twice in the early 70's.
Barcelona are already playing 'finals' in September after their shaky start. The Neymar saga is over and Suárez and Messi are back. While Carles Pérez and Ansu Fati's names remain on Valverde's mind, he will have his best attacking front available for the Granada game. The defense is under some suspicion and that won't be helped with the absence of Jordi Alba. Valverde isn't sure of his midfielder either with De Jong, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Carles Aleña, Arthur, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal all in with a shout and some enjoying better starts than others.
Griezmann admits that the chemistry between himself and his new teammates might be a while in the making but they start on Saturday against Granada in earnest. Granada have added four players to their starting eleven from the team that was promoted last season including Domingos Duarte, Yangel Herrera, Roberto Soldado and Darwin Machís. All eyes will be on Messi, however, as LaLiga's best player returns to the field.