Life After Lionel Messi Continues To Be Miserable For Barcelona

Life after Lionel Messi for Barcelona continues to be utterly miserable, with the 10-man Blaugrana drawing 0-0 with lowly Cadiz in La Liga on Thursday night.

The result, which followed up a 1-1 draw with Granada on Monday, means the club are already seven points behind league leaders Real Madrid - although they have played a game less.

Still, Ronald Koeman's side have picked up just two wins so far and were incredibly uninspiring against Cadiz, where Frenkie de Jong was sent off in the second half.

Quite possibly the worst Barca side for a long time, the Catalan outfit have scored eight goals - the same tally Karim Benzema has managed in the league this term.

Prior to the game, home supporters mocked Barca by chanting "Where's Lionel Messi?" on repeat outside the ground.

The answer of course, is Paris, France and already we've heard Koeman talk about how Messi's greatness disguised how bad things were at the Nou Camp for a while.

On Thursday night, former Newcastle, Borussia Monchengladbach and Sevilla striker Luuk de Jong led the line.

The Dutchman is the exact opposite to the type of forward Barcelona normally have for the way they play and didn't offer much at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla.

Likely still in disbelief that he's a Barca player, De Jong was substituted for Philippe Coutinho following the red card.

On the bench for the fixture was 22-year-old Riqui Puig, who let everyone knows what he thinks of Koeman when he was spotted giving his manager a death stare.

He came on for Sergino Dest late on.

Earlier this week, Koeman staged a bizarre press conference where he did not answer any questions and instead gave a statement.

He had only informed the club of what he would be doing just minutes before the presser.

Sent off in the dying embers on Thursday evening, the former Everton boss is believed to have a strained relationship with club president Joan Laporta, who has admitted that results need to improve.

Koeman is under serious pressure and Barca's five-man shortlist to replace him is said to include the likes of Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Conte, Phillip Cocu and Joachim Low.

Featured Image Credit: Image: Twitter

Topics: Lionel Messi, Ronald Koeman, Riqui Puig, La Liga, Barcelona, Real Madrid

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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