The absence of Lionel Messi for the match against Alaves until the 61st minute, meant Luis Suarez could take the penalty for Barça to make it 2-0. We look at the two records, and the Uruguayan's percentage is actually better than the percentage of the Argentine.
Is Leo Messi better than Luis Suarez? The debate would hardly exist. However, the tables would be turned upside down if you went out into the street to ask who is better from the twelve yards.
It's always been said that penalties are the Achilles' heel of the Argentinian star, but it's also logical that he fails more given the amount he shoots each season.
The truth is that the numbers, counting all the official competitions, favour the Uruguayan, even though he has taken less than half the number of penalties than his teammate throughout his career. His success rate is 76.3%, having missed only 9 of the 38 penalties he has had.
In the case of Messi,he has taken 84 and has missed a total of 25, which leaves him with a percentage of 71.2%, more than 5% lower than Suarez.
The Argentinian's last miss took place recently, on February 16, 2019, at the Camp Nou. Jordi Masip, who had already conceded a goal from 12 yards in the first half, guessed where Messi would go second time and saved it.
You would have to dig much deeper to find the last penalty missed by Luis Suarez. It took place on November 16, 2016, in a Chile-Uruguay match with Claudio Bravo saving the penalty, something which would prove expensive, as the Charrúas fell 3-1.
Since then, however, he has scored 9 in a row.