Surprising Stat Underlines Luis Suarez Struggles Away From Home in the Champions League

Ask any footballer whether they have suffered a slight dip in their career and they will undoubtedly respond with a reluctant nod. Unfortunately for Barcelona,

Ask any footballer whether they have suffered a slight dip in their career and they will undoubtedly respond with a reluctant nod. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Luis Suarez is enduring not so much a dip, but more of a sky-dive in form when it comes to European nights away from the Camp Nou.

It was an all round frustrating night for La Blaugrana on Tuesday, as Ernesto Valverde's men were incapable of hitting the back of the net despite the plethora of opportunities they carved open for themselves, resulting in a 0-0 stalemate away at Lyon.

Granted, the French side played their part, their back four were solid throughout, stifling Barcelona on numerous occasions. However, Suarez was arguably the biggest culprit when it came chances spurned.

The Uruguayan is often revered as one of Europe's finest forwards, or certainly has been over recent years, but the 32-year-old is on a rotten run of form away from home in the Champions League.

24h - As of the 22nd minute of tonight's game against Lyon, Luis Suarez has gone a full day of game time (1440 minutes) without scoring away from home in the Champions League, last netting against Roma in September 2015. Strange. pic.twitter.com/7mzz0w03AO

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 19, 2019

Suarez's inability to hit the back on the net on Tuesday meant the former Liverpool striker has now gone 1,253 days without scoring an away goal in the Champions League. That is no less than 24 hours of game time since he last netted for Valverde's men away from the comfort of the Camp Nou.

Supporters' patience appears to be growing thin with the mercurial number nine, as his catalogue of misses on Tuesday meant he has now only scored four times in the competition since the 2015/16 season.

You would have to cast your mind back to September 2015 for the last time Suarez produced for his side on the road, as he scored in a 1-1 group stage draw with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Admittedly, Suarez faced a resolute defence on Tuesday, but the striker had plenty of chances, yet repeatedly missed the mark.

It's wrong to question the striker's goal scoring exploits, 388 goals in 593 club outings is nothing short of spectacular, but football has a short memory, and he'll need to rediscover his scoring touch if he is to bring Champions League glory back to Catalonia.