The sad decline of MSN: Football's best trio now a laughing stock

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 4 min read

One of the greatest forward lines the world of football has ever seen was at Barcelona and included Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Commonly known by the acronym 'MSN', the trio were sensational during their short, three-year period at Camp Nou, winning two La Liga titles, a Champions League, three Copa del Rey crowns and the Club World Cup.

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The mix of South American flair, relentless goalscoring and a tireless work ethic made 'MSN' strike fear into the hearts of every defence in Spain and in Europe.

From the start of the 2014/15 season to the end of 2016/17 when Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain, they scored a ludicrous total of 363 goals.

What is notable about how good the trio were is that they were extremely unselfish towards each other.

It would have been very easy for the egos to succeed among them, but the respect outweighed that and it benefited Barcelona.

Unfortunately, decline comes with every player and, in the 2021/22 campaign, we have witnessed a major downfall in performance from all three stars.

Indeed, Messi and Neymar reached their lowest ebb in years over the weekend as they were roundly booed by PSG fans due to the team's loss against Real Madrid in the Champions League the midweek prior.

Lionel Messi in 2021/22

In the summer of 2021, Messi completed an extremely emotional departure from Barcelona. The Argentine admitted that he did not want to leave the club, but it was the club itself that revealed that they would no longer be able to afford to pay his wages due to their financial issues.

He would subsequently move to PSG, but he has been unable to hit the heights he reached at Barcelona.

Messi has scored just two goals in Ligue 1 so far this campaign, though he has recorded 10 assists. Even if he is now much more of a creator than a goalscorer, the lack of goals is worrying.

Neymar in 2021/22

Neymar's decline has been the sharpest of the trio, mainly due to his injury record at PSG which is appalling.

Since making the move to the French capital, Neymar has missed a massive 101 games due to injury at PSG.

The Brazilian has never once played more than 20 of PSG’s 38 Ligue 1 matches in his five seasons at the club. In three of the four previous campaigns he has featured in less than 50 per cent of Ligue 1 games.

In the 2021/22 season, he has scored five goals and recorded five assists in all competitions.

Luis Suarez in 2021/22

Two summers ago, Suarez was informed by Ronald Koeman that his time at Barcelona was over.

The Uruguayan, clearly, took this personally and went on to sign for Atletico Madrid.

He was one of the players of the season as Los Colchoneros won La Liga at the expense of Barca and Madrid, hitting 21 league goals in the process.

His output this campaign and his importance to Atletico as a whole has declined as he has found the back of the net on just nine occasions.

A high-profile spat with Diego Simeone has also impacted his influence on the team, while he has to fight fiercely for minutes up against Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Joao Felix.