The 2021-22 La Liga season kicked off with one very obvious absence - that of Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, who left the Catalan club after 17 years to join Paris Saint-Germain in hopes of winning a fifth Champions League title. A fifth title would make Messi's tally equal that of arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Of course, this meant that there would be serious questions asked of Barça heading into this season. The first league match of the season was expected to be of particular intrigue. Not only would it be the club's first match since 2004 without the iconic Argentine on the roster; it would also see the Blaugrana face off against Real Sociedad, an improving club who have genuine ambitions of making the top four this season.
As it turned out, Messi's absence was not significantly felt - at least this time around. In a victory which was more dominant than the final scoreline indicated, Barça beat Real Sociedad 4-2. Both of Real Sociedad's goals only came within the last 10 minutes of the match. The players who had once been Messi's supporting cast stepped up and made key contributions. Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, and Frenkie de Jong all registered solid performances for Barça. New signing Memphis Depay was also impressive.
However, much to the surprise of almost everyone, the standout performer of the match was Danish striker Martin Braithwaite. Braithwaite scored two goals and also assisted a goal scored by Sergi Roberto. Throughout all 90 minutes, he repeatedly had the Real Sociedad defense in serious trouble. Without question, this was not only Braithwaite's best performance in a Barça jersey; it was probably also the greatest single-match performance of his career to date.
To give you an idea of just how unexpected Braithwaite's display at Camp Nou this weekend was, he only scored two league goals in 29 appearances last season. Over his two-and-a-half prior seasons spent in La Liga, he had scored just 12 goals in 83 matches. A fringe player during his entire time at Barça to date, almost no one could have possibly seen this coming.
Braithwaite is the stereotypical example of the "career journeyman". After leaving hometown club Esbjerg fB in 2013 at the age of 22, Braithwaite spent the next six years at French side Toulouse and English club Middlesbrough; he also had a loan stint at Bordeaux in 2018. He only joined a club in one of Europe's four leading leagues in 2019 when he signed for La Liga club Leganés.
On top of that, he only even joined Barça in the first place as an emergency signing after Ousmane Dembélé suffered a major long-term injury. Upon Dembélé's return, Braithwaite immediately fell behind the Frenchman in Barça's pecking order. When Sergio Agüero returns from his calf injury, Braithwaite will likely find starts even more difficult to come by. Certainly, Braithwaite is a player who has paid his dues - both years ago and more recently.
Admittedly, Braithwaite has had his moments in a Barcelona jersey. Notably, he scored two goals and had an assist when Barcelona beat Dynamo Kyiv 4-0 in the Champions League last season. However, his performance against Real Sociedad is still superior to his effort in Ukraine because at that point of the group stage, Dynamo had already effectively been eliminated from the tournament, making the match a relatively low-impact clash.
It isn't as though his recent performance was likely to be a sign of things to come, either. Now at age 30, Braithwaite has probably already peaked and will soon be in decline. Although it isn't out of the question that Braithwaite might just happen to be a late bloomer whose best years are yet to come, the history of football has shown us that this is a somewhat unlikely scenario.
This season, Barcelona's strikers are tasked with perhaps the most difficult job in world football - somehow, they must compensate for Messi in the wake of his departure. The bulk of this burden will undoubtedly fall on the shoulders of Depay, Antoine Griezmann, and Agüero. However, for just one day, Barça's unlikely hero caught "lightning in a bottle" to give them get their league campaign off to a strong start.
Maybe, just maybe, life after Messi at Barcelona might not be so tough after all.
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