Barcelona are back to winning ways in the Champions League and are still alive in the race for a Top 8 finish in the league phase thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou on Tuesday
night. The Blaugrana played a very poor attacking game and fell behind in the first half, but Jules Kounde scored two big headers in the final period to rescue three important points for the home team.
Reactions & Observations
- A very disappointing first half from a Barça perspective. The attack was slow and predictable, with safe passing and very little movement up front. The closest they came to scoring was a shot by Fermín López that was blocked inside the box and a long-distance effort by Gerard Martín that forced a good save out of the Frankfurt goalkeeper. Other than that, pretty much nothing.
- Defensively, they just could not handle the pace of Ansgar Knauff who started up front and timed his runs perfectly throughout the half, and scored the only goal of the period by getting in behind the defense, shrugging off a weak challenge by Alejandro Balde, and finding the net.
- Balde had a really poor first half, not only with the role he played in Frankfurt’s goal but with some bad misplaced passes in the final third that killed a few promising attacks.
- The bad passing was contagious all over the Barça lineup, with several moves ended early by easy passes going to the other team. There was just a general lack of ideas with the Blaugrana attack and the execution also let them down, and Hansi Flick was visibly frustrated as he headed down the tunnel at the break.
- Another halftime thought: I understood Flick rewarding Eric Garcia’s excellent recent play by starting him in midfield again, but he clearly looked like a defender lost in the shuffle in a game that needed a more attack-minded player given Frankfurt’s low block. Frenkie de Jong is a must to start the second half.
- There is a halftime change, but it’s Marcus Rashford for Fermín, who was one of the many underperforming players in the first half.
- IT’S A KOUNDE BRACE! Thanks to excellent crosses by Rashford and Lamine Yamal, Jules scores two really good headers in a span of three minutes to complete the Barça comeback before the hour mark.
- A wild 30 seconds as Arhtur Theate misses a huge chance with a weak volley from a free-kick that goes right at Joan Garcia. Barça counter immediately and have a three-on-one break, but Robert Lewandowski and Rashford make a mess of it and waste a big moment.
- Ferran Torres and Frenkie replace Raphinha and Lewandowski in the 66th minute. This has been a sloppy performance so far, so hopefully De Jong can bring some much-needed poise to the play in midfield.
- Frenkie’s entrance finally brought some calm and control to Barça’s passing. During their strongest period in the game between the 70th and 80th minute they stopped making silly mistakes on the ball, and Frankfurt’s counter-attackng threat disappeared.
- A one-goal win against a defense as weak as Frankfurt’s is certainly a surprise, and Barça’s attacking performance was really disappointing tonight. The three points are important to keep our slim Top 8 hopes alive, but this game offers very little encouragement about our chances in Europe this season.
