Luis Enrique stands on the touchline and watches FC Barcelona’s tremendous troika of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN) nearly every day in matches and in training.
And yet, the Blaugrana boss remains amazed at what the trio can accomplish when they are at their best.
“They are the best in the world,” Enrique told the press recently. “They have a great understanding and when they don’t all score [in a match] they’re not happy.”
“Barca boss Enrique has said he believes MSN is the best attacking trident in the history of the club and football.” (Photo: @elMundial | Twitter)
Indeed, in their roughly one and a half seasons together with Barca, the Argentine Messi, the Uruguayan Suarez and the Brazilian Neymar have confounded the experts who predicted there wouldn’t be enough touches to satisfy their star-level egos. They have combined to produce 122 goals in 2014-15 (a single-season record for any three players at any club), a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey crown and, in dominating fashion no less, a European Champions’ League conquest. On December 14, Barcelona defeated River Plate 3-0 to win the Club World Cup.
The goals they have scored, across Spain, Europe and the world, have been magnificent, bordering on the absurd.
With the so-called “MSN” attack force in the lineup, the Blaugrana have won more than 90 percent of their matches in all competitions. As of this writing, they are top of the La Liga table, thanks in large part to a 4-0 thrashing of arch-rival Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in November, a match in which the magnificent Messi played only a bit part. Suarez scored twice and Neymar added another in a dominating performance:
So far this season, they have combined for 45 goals in all competitions, even with Messi out for almost two months with a leg injury.
So how has this worked? How have three of the world’s best players, all relatively young and still in their primes, set aside their egos and any personal needs to be “THE GUY” to lead FC Barcelona to unprecedented success since the start of the 2014-2015 season?
Former Barcelona great and Ballon d’Or winner Luis Suarez Miramontes (no relation) thinks he knows. The key, he believes, is Messi’s “humility.”
The elder Suarez told the media recently, “The humility with which Messi has welcomed Suarez and Neymar into the team has been central to [their success]. The three have shown an appreciation that by leaving their egos to one side they can go on and achieve great things.”
According to insiders, Messi’s “humility” is key to the magic of MSN. (Photo: Twitter)
Teammate and lifelong Barca fan Gerard Pique agrees.
“The key of these three is the relationship that they have,” the right back told the Telegraph recently. “You can see that on the pitch. It’s magnificent. For example, when one is scoring a lot and the other is not scoring — Neymar, the other day, he gave the penalty to Suarez. When you see this kind of attitude, it means a lot.”
And Pique, who has to defend against the triumvirate in training, also thinks they possess complementary skills. “Neymar is the best one-on-one. He is unstoppable. You have Leo Messi who is the most complete player in the world — he can attack, defend, he can head the ball even though he is small. And then you have Suarez and his first touch in the box is fantastic.”
According to teammate Pique, Neymar’s skills complement those of Messi and Suarez perfectly.
"Neymar is the best one-on-one. He is unstoppable." – Gerard Pique (Photo: @BarcaMania | Twitter)
By all accounts, too, the three famous footballers get along off the pitch as well. The younger Suarez told the Wall Street Journal recently that, “Outside the pitch I am so happy with them… a lot of joking.”
Speaking of joking, some who cover the sport who have suggested that the “footballing gods” may have helped elevate the three Barca stars to the status of the sport’s new “Holy Trinity.” A recent graphic in the Telegraph points out that the birthplaces for each of the three—Rosario, Argentina for Messi, Salto Uruguay for Suarez and Mogi das Cruzes, Sao Paolo, Brazil for Neymar—can be connected with a straight line on the map.
Whether it’s Messi’s “humility,” or their friendship or the result of some divine intervention, Barcelona’s “MSN” attacking threesome rarely take straight lines to the opposition goal — and the results can only be described is fantastic, free-flowing football.
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