Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona: 5 reasons why Barcelona lost the match | LaLiga 2019/2020

#3 The loss of Luis Suarez to injury

Luis Suarez pulled up with a muscular strain

Having had to start the game without the services of Lionel Messi, Barcelona suffered another injury setback 33 minutes into the match when center-forward Luis Suarez pulled up with what appeared to be a muscular strain on his right leg.

He immediately signaled to the bench and was replaced by Rafinha, with Barcelona fans waiting with bated breaths on news of the severity of the injury.

Despite criticisms leveled at him, the Uruguayan international is still among the best in his position, and ended Barcelona's preseason campaign as the club's highest goalscorer despite resuming later than his teammates.

With Suarez present, Barcelona are always in with a chance, as the 32-year-old's predatory instincts and awareness in the box mean that he is always attune to sniffing out chances from nothing, evidenced by his shot which rattled the bottom post in the immediate aftermath of his injury.

Upon his departure, Griezmann was drafted into the center of attack, and the Frenchman failed to offer the same threat as Luis Suarez does.