La Liga: Grim start for Barcelona's Liverpool purchase

Barcelona were unbeaten in 13 La Liga games before losing both of Luis Suarez's first two matches

The long-awaited integration of Luis Suarez into Barcelona's XI has coincided with a costly loss of form...

Luis Suarez was the catalyst behind Liverpool's first legitimate title challenge in five years and arguably only their third this century but, before that thrilling campaign, there were 30 months in which even his presence couldn't shake the Reds from their draining mediocrity.

The early coupling of Suarez and Barcelona following his four-month ban for taking a nibble on Giorgio Chiellini has resembled the initial interaction of the Uruguayan with the Merseyside giants far more than the majesty of his final season.

The Ballon d'Or-ignored 27-year-old's introduction appeared to be timed to perfection. After an eventful summer in which the likes of Claudio Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu, Ivan Rakitic and new coach Luis Enrique also arrived, the Catalan club charged to seven victories and a draw in their first eight La Liga fixtures.

As a result, they were four points above Real Madrid and five clear of champions Atletico Madrid heading into 2014/15's opening Clasico. They still hadn't conceded a league goal despite a slight dip in performances, so Suarez's comeback-come-debut seemed like an ideal complacency-swatter.

Barcelona were ahead within four minutes yet were breached for the first time in the 35th minute courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. Their second leak occurred 15 minutes later and the third a mere 11 minutes after that.

A week later, their fourth concession came at home to Celta Vigo forward Joaquin Larrivey, who has scored as many La Liga goals as Lionel Messi this term (seven), as the galactico trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar did the unthinkable and failed to net across 90 minutes at Camp Nou.

The consequence was a 0-1 defeat to Enrique's former employers Celta, who are up in sixth without him, and the embarrassment of trailing Atletico by one point and Real Madrid - who they led by six after just four games - by two. They have drifted to 3.211/5 for the title having been backed at 1.72.

The worry is that they made similarly blistering getaways in 2012/13 and 2013/14 and struggled to regain the pace when hitting a speed bump or two. It was particularly noticeable last season, when they went from 16 wins in 18 (89%) at the start to 11 in 20 (55%) thereafter, and from triumphing in each of their opening eight encounters to an average win streak of 2.71 matches from then on.

There are some tricky clashes on the horizon too as they bid to rebuild their challenge, with top-five rivals Sevilla and Valencia both to play in November and the derby with Espanyol following that. Results deteriorated rapidly for Enrique in his prior big job at Roma in 2011/12 after a week-six loss to Lazio. At least seven points are required from those upcoming meetings to calm fears of a repeat.