Barcelona are a strong attacking team. There’s no reason they should be dropping points to bottom of the table opponents in La Liga.
Against Girona, they generated 27 shots, 9 of which were on target, with
68% possession. That’s all well and good, and very much expected, against a Girona team that has struggled defensively this season.
This was not same performance that we saw against Sevilla, where Barcelona were bossed around physically, and had little threat going forward.
Hansi Flick made strong tactical adjustments to start this match. I didn’t mind seeing Toni Fernández given a chance. He struggled to make an impact, but his youthful energy gave the team a much needed boost leading the front line.
Pedri and Frenkie de Jong played in advance roles in this game, with Marc Casadó anchoring the defensive midfield on his own. Both of them were productive in their offensive contributions. With so many forwards sidelined, this was a wise call by Flick. Not just changing their positions, but also directing his team to get more bodies forward.
Once they get into the final third, however, Barcelona has struggled to find a way through on goal, in spite of the many opportunities they were able to generate.
Pedri on the first goal, and Ronald Araujo with the game winner, made it look easy. That’s an important lesson going forward.
You can’t force the ball into the back of the net. In spite of the exciting efforts from Marcus Rashford, who did very well in this game, brute force can only get you so far. Lamine Yamal also needs to find ways to increase the quality of his efforts, while wasting fewer balls.
The beauty of Ronald Araujo’s last minute clincher is that it was a text book center forward run to the near post. When you focus on the fundamentals, and stop playing hero ball, good things generally happen, especially when you already have so much talent on paper.
On the flip side, when you lose your head, cascading moments of bad luck are what follow.
You already have a laundry list of injuries.
The referees are making consequential calls to award your opponent soft penalties, while taking away legitimate goals from you.
How you react is what matters. Everyone should remember Real Madrid last season, who became a stew of toxic energy, blaming everyone but themselves for their woes.
Great teams that win championships are mentality monsters. They stay focused on themselves, and they take responsibility for their failures. If something doesn’t go their way, they quickly move on, and get back to the business of playing winning football.
Hansi Flick let his frustrations get the better of him, and will likely miss the critical match against Real Madrid. He needs to remind himself that this is Spain. The referees are sensitive and relish giving out cards in defense of their honor.
Most importantly, when the coach loses his cool, it spreads to the players.
Barcelona have everything they need to keep the season on track, while buying time for all their best players to return from injury.
It was brave, and the correct call, to pull Lamine Yamal and Pedri early.
Flick is good at showing trust in his whole roster by spreading the playing time around.
As we saw on Saturday, by staying calm and fighting until the end, he can trust that his players have what it takes to win, even when it feels like the world is conspiring against them.
It’s in your hands Barcelona. Focus on what’s in your control, and you will be a very tough team for anyone to beat.
