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Three talking points from Osasuna 4-2 Barcelona

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CA Osasuna v FC Barcelona - La Liga EA Sports
Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images

A first defeat of the season in La Liga

Flick owns up after rotations backfire

Barcelona lost 4-2 to Osasuna on Saturday in a match which saw Hansi Flick once again make key rotations only to see them backfire.

The Catalans fielded their youngest starting line-up in a La Liga match since 7 October 1995 (with an average age of 23 years and 292 days) but El Sadar simply wasn’t the place to do it.

Flick insisted before the game “we need to rotate” and he wasn’t wrong. Yet he made too many changes against a team that were unbeaten at home and possessed quality up front in the shape of Ante Budimir and Bryan Zaragoza.

Throwing inexperienced youngsters Sergi Dominguez and Gerard Martin into his backline always looked a risky move and one that did not work out. You couldn’t help but wonder why Hector Fort didn’t get a chance, or perhaps why Jules Kounde or Eric Garcia didn’t feature in the center of defence.

Lamine Yamal was finally given a breather but then was called for in the second half and fired home the sort of goal that made you wonder what might have happened if he’d been given a breather against Getafe and started here instead.

Flick was quick to hold his hands up and take the blame after the game which was refreshing to see. The boss is doing his best to protect his players, but Barca’s squad limits were laid bare for all to see here.

Ferran Torres flops again as Ansu is overlooked

The decision to rest Lamine Yamal and Raphinha allowed Ferran Torres to start, and somehow play the entire 90 minutes, in what was yet another dismal display from the Spain international.

Aside from one run in the second half, which ultimately ended in his shot being saved, Torres offered absolutely nothing. His touch was poor, he gave the ball away easily far too many times, lacked vision and offered no support to Robert Lewandowski or Jules Kounde.

For a player who has managed to score 21 goals in 48 games for the Spain national team, his continued struggles at Barcelona are a growing frustration and you wonder how much patience the club has left with him.

All of which made Flick’s decision to overlook Ansu Fati once again more than a little curious. The German boss has regularly talked up Ansu but has only give him a couple of minutes against Monaco since he was passed fit despite making it clear he needs to rotate his team.

Pau Victor in the thick of things

Barcelona can’t have too many complaints about defeat at El Sadar but can feel aggrieved the second goal was given after a clear foul on Pau Victor. Pedri said as much after the game when he revealed he’d told the referee he’d got the decision wrong.

Victor was also in no doubt about what had happened and was baffled he hadn’t been given a free-kick instead.

”I don’t want to make excuses, because we didn’t lose because of the referee, but for me it’s a foul,” he told reporters afterwards. “He tells me that he first touches the ball, but then he clearly stamps on my ankle. For me it’s a foul, but the referee said no and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Victor did go on to score his first senior goal in the game with a tame effort that somehow went in after goalkeeper Sergio Herrera made a real mess of trying to keep it out. For a little while Barcelona had hope of getting something out of the game but it wasn’t to be.

This wasn’t Victor’s best performance and he admitted afterwards he “would have liked to score my first goal in a different way.” The most important thing is that it went in and is hopefully something he can build on going forwards.



Source: barcablaugranes.com

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