Is Barcelona’s front three now the best ever?

Barcelona’s front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and luis suarez helped the Catalan giants record a 5-3 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals

Last night Barcelona lost 3-2 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final second leg, but won the tie 5-3 on aggregate.

The Catalan giants now face the potential prospect of facing arch-rivals Real Madrid in the first ever Clasico Champions League final, although Los Blancos have to overcome a stubborn Juventus team tonight to make that happen.

Crucial

Barcelona’s five goals over the two legs were all scored by their fantastic threesome of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. Three of those were scored by Brazilian superstar Neymar and two by the irrepressible Messi.

The third member of the trio Luis Suarez was also accredited with a few assists along the way. The trio quite simply have every tool in their locker to unlock any defence.

Matured

When Neymar arrived at Barcelona in the summer of 2013 from Santos he was regarded as one of the brightest young players in the world game. However, he had a reputation for being something of a selfish player on the pitch.

His early rise to stardom at Santos meant that he was lauded from an early age. It seemed he came into the Barcelona team rather naively expecting to still be the star turn.

That youthful naivety was soon swept away by the reality that everybody at Barcelona plays second fiddle to the immensely talented Messi. Neymar struggled to settle in his first season in Catalonia.

This season though he seems like a different player. He has scored 38 goals in all competitions and there seems to be less petulant behaviour from the 23-year-old. Reportedly his relationship with Messi has blossomed on and off the pitch.

The Brazilian has praised Messi and stated that he learns something new from him every day. The youngster is starting to mature and is becoming a better player for learning from Messi. They enjoy playing together and you can see that from their performances and Barcelona’s results.

Unselfish

The third member of that deadly trio, Luis Suarez, has definitely added something different to the Barcelona attack this season. Suarez has always been a team player, someone who will run all day for the team.

At Liverpool maybe he was slightly greedier with the ball, but he would still pass the ball to a teammate if he was in a better position than himself to score a goal. The Uruguayan has slightly adapted his game in Catalonia.

He does a lot of dirty work for the Catalan giants and his assist record this season suggests that he is now a more complete player. His statistics for this season are impressive, with 17 assists and 24 goals in all competitions, despite missing the first few months of the campaign through suspension.

Suarez does not seem to mind being a supporting act for Messi, or at times Neymar, because the team are winning and he could collect a whole host of medals this season. At Liverpool he had an outside chance of winning trophies, at Barcelona he is almost guaranteed to win them.

The 28-year-old also seems to have formed a bond with Messi and Neymar, despite the fact that they are all from rival South American countries.

Messi

There is very little left to say about Lionel Messi that has not already been said. Bayern Munich and former-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has stated that he believes Messi is the best player of all-time and at the moment it is hard to argue with that.

Messi enjoyed a relatively quiet night at the Allianz Arena, collecting just the one assist to add to his 23 assists and 53 goals for the season in all competitions. His brilliance helped Barcelona to a 3-0 win in the first leg, so he deserved a slight quiet night by his extraordinary standards.

Messi is the star at Barcelona, yet at times comes across as a humble guy, which is strange considering his status in world football. The fact that he willing to sacrifice his own goal records for the sake of an assist for a teammate shows that he is very much a team player.

Deserved

Suarez and Neymar may have cost the club from Catalonia big fees, but watching them play with Messi they have to be regarded as value for money. The trio are not just selfish goal hungry individuals, but are part of a team.

If Barcelona does not claim the Champions League crown this season then it will be a major shock, because their front three have been simply outstanding this season and could have a claim to be the best ever strike-force the game has ever seen.

Is Barcelona’s front three now the best ever?