Nine goals and a return from the favorite.
Barcelona needs a strong goalkeeper
The Catalan team resembles the heroes of the famous film “Memento” directed by Nolan. There, a man suffering from rare amnesia tried to unravel a terrible mystery. The person forgot facts in just a few minutes. I never understood who is a friend and who is an enemy. Barcelona remembers and forgets how to win the whole season. They score five goals against Real Madrid, beating a club that won five trophies last year. They score five goals against Betis. And then at Getafe they lose points in La Liga.
More recently, we were leading the championship. They secretly tried on the crown that Javi had lost. And now Ancelotti’s Real is in first place. Flick’s team concedes “cheap goals” too often. The injury to main goalkeeper Ter Stegen had an impact. But Marc-André himself was unreliable in many key episodes. The German could easily regain courage. And also capable of making crazy mistakes. The Polish Szczesny, retired at Juventus, dreamed of replacing him at Barcelona.
And he put together the new team in Lisbon. Benfica scored three goals in the first half. All from Greek striker Pavlidis. And Szczesny helped him. For some reason, Wojciech jumped away from the portal and crashed into Balde. The opponent must have scored into an empty goal. Then, Szczesny recklessly brought down an opponent inside the penalty area and won a penalty. Fortunately, there was no obvious deprivation of a scoring opportunity, so the goalkeeper did not receive a red card. But Pavlidis scored from the penalty spot.
Huge bias in favor of attack
Although they rightly praise midfielder Casado, rejoice in the return of Gavi after a treacherous injury and note Pedri’s game in the middle phases of the game, this trio is not yet an analogue of the Bermuda Triangle of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. The old Spaniards are of a higher level. They were also more experienced when Barcelona won the Champions League. And the young people are not even ready to win the Europa League. We don’t know what will happen in a few years. In the meantime, the Spanish support zone was crossed in the rain.
An experienced De Jong could help. But Frankie is disappointed with Barcelona and considers leaving. The Catalans have fewer complaints only regarding the three attackers. But we should not forget the facts that so protected the hero of the mentioned film “Memento”. Striker Lewandowski is a hundred years old. The Pole often scores, but Robert is an inveterate egoist in front of someone else’s goal. Stubbornly does not notice his partners. Raphinha was deregistered last summer. The Brazilian had his chance and scored a funny goal in Lisbon. But he’s not the young Neymar.
And Yamal was a schoolboy yesterday. The winger has incredible talent, but these young players depend on their teammates. When Koundé works perfectly on the right flank and Casado manages to cover Lamin under pressure, goals can then be created. Before Benfica started to panic, Barcelona were rolling the ball high with empty spaces behind their midfielders. They then remember that defender Kubarsi is only 17 years old and that his teammate Araujo recently negotiated with Juventus.
The Catalans are afraid of troublesome opponents
Real Madrid are not among them, as Ancelotti’s side brazenly reveal. They facilitated the work of Yamal, Levandovsky and Rafinha. Madrid have problems in defense, which many have taken advantage of. But when Barcelona meet guys like Getafe, who you point the finger at and they bite your hand, or the lovely Benfica, then the problems start. This is not the first time that a Lisbon club has scored a lot of goals at home against Barcelona. Coach Lage thought about tactics on offense, but not on defense.
And three and a half years ago, the teams were already playing in the capital of Portugal. Then Benfica won 3:0 and future Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez scored a brace. The Eagles can be described as a troublesome opponent for the Catalans. And in La Liga they were inferior to the strong Real Sociedad. We lost against Leganes and Las Palmas. Not everyone on the list is as troublesome for Barcelona as Getafe. They are the ones who systematically sign international agreements during a visit. But failure after failure, they slide down.
Moreover, the Catalans were warned of such a turnaround. Can we say that there are not enough resources for the ideal bench? Real Madrid have Lunin available in case Courtois is injured. Ter Stegen did not have a worthy replacement. Barcelona have no one to replace, even youngsters like Casado. Kunde to the right without a valid alternative. We need to find money to register the new arrivals. Lewandowski does not have a big reinforcement, if we do not put Olmo as a “false attacker”. Although Flick didn’t play this pattern reliably.
The coach is often responsible for unconvincing matches
No weak team can beat Real Madrid twice a season. Perhaps in the worst moments of Los Blancos such anomalies occurred, but that was a long time ago and it was not true. Barcelona can play wonderfully and win big. The players are young and talented. There are no questions, even for those who made serious mistakes in Lisbon, when we talk about prospects. And money problems are not on the table at the moment, because Barcelona has an almost optimal base on the pitch.
There is no Ter Stegen and Olmo, but they are two people. You can’t compare Postecoglou’s problems with Tottenham, where there is a whole team in hospital with key players from different lines. Hansi Flick has excellent craftsmen. Switching from one mode to another, as if Barcelona were suffering from a strange amnesia and selectively forgetting how to play to win, is the fault of the German coach. Even when Hansi was invited, everyone in Germany reminded why Flick didn’t stay with the giants.
Won with Bayern Champions League during a single truncated playoffs due to the pandemic. And then he walked away. Now I have Lewandowski in the mood to score. Works with Yamal. Made Raphinha a leader, the winger is cool. But Flick remains a terrible crisis manager. Don’t thank Hansi for the madness in Lisbon. At first, the Germans messed up their tactics and attitudes. And then the players themselves returned. Two penalties, a curious goal, a cross and the final agreement from Raphinha: the recipe for a crazy victory.
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