The Argentine was withdrawn due to hamstring pains on what was supposed to be his party night, but the Uruguayan striker stepped up with a hat-trick in another deadly display.
The Camp Nou was in party mood on Sunday. Before kick-off against Athletic Club, Lionel Messi showed off his fifth Ballon d'Or to the Barcelona fans and was soon on the scoresheet too. But the alarm bells rang as he failed to emerge in the second half. And instead, Luis Suarez stole the limelight.
Messi was applauded by his team-mates as he held the Golden Ball aloft and a huge banner was unfurled for the Argentine attacker, who picked up the prestigious prize for the fifth time in Zurich last Monday.
Minutes later, he then converted from the penalty spot to continue the celebrations as Athletic were reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz was shown a straight red card for bringing down Suarez in what had been a desperate attempt to make up for Xabi Etxeita's terrible mistake.
But the festivities were curtailed as Messi failed to reappear after the break. Barca were now 2-0 up after Neymar had added a second, but where was Leo?
The 28-year-old had experienced pain in his hamstring in the opening period and was taken off in a precautionary measure to avoid injury. With Barca 2-0 up, at home and playing against 10 men, there was no need to risk him anyway.
"Messi has a small problem," Luis Enrique said after the match. "It's a small strain and I decided not to take risks. I don't take risks with anyone - and especially not with Messi. There will be tests on Monday."
It is too early to say whether the Argentine will be able to feature in Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash against Athletic again, this time at San Mames. But one player who will not be involved in that one is Suarez, who is banned for inciting a confrontation in the tunnel versus Espanyol in the last 16.
With Barca still trying to overturn the striker's suspension, he could yet play in Bilbao, but Athletic will hope he does not after he hit three second-half goals to hand Ernesto Valverde the worst result of his coaching career.
The Uruguayan slotted low into the corner for his first of the night just two minutes into the second half, chested down and delicately beat goalkeeper Iago Herrerin for his second later on and added a third with a fine header in the closing stages. Earlier, he had also won the penalty and was a constant threat to the Basques' back line.
"I'm really happy with the goals," Suarez said afterwards. "But the most important thing was to win." And having hit his first goals in 2016, he added: "Together with my team-mates I laughed at the chances I was missing. They were easy ones you score when you are on a streak."
Not that he has been missing too many this term. The hat-track on Sunday means Suarez now has 18 goals in his 18 Liga appearances and is in pole position for the Pichichi prize, two clear of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, with Messi back on 10 after spending two months on the sidelines earlier in 2015-16.
So while there is no indication that Messi will be out injured again for a period of time as he was in October and November with a knee problem, Suarez showed once again - along with the impressive Neymar - that there is life without Leo.
The Uruguayan is - along with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski - the most in-form centre-forward in the world right now and if he maintains his scoring streak, he could be the man to break the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly both in the Pichichi and also the European Golden Shoe.
Much more importantly for Barca, however, he is getting better and better all the time. And as long as Messi is not injured, there is still plenty to celebrate for the Catalans right now.
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