Barcelona show signs of burnout as the attack goes missing against Newcastle
As Hansi Flick said after the game, a bad performance, but not a bad result.
Barcelona entered hostile territory against Newcastle, and they weren’t ready to fight the battle. Luckily, the Magpies were not at their clinical best, because if they were, the tie would already be over.
In more ways than one, the game did not go as expected.
If anything the fear was that Barcelona, at their worst, would leak goals. Instead, it was the offense that was missing in action, which is a true rarity for Barcelona under Flick.
Raphinha is going through a rough patch, and it doesn’t seem to matter who you throw in at center forward, Barcelona is not getting what they need from the position. So much so that instead of turning to Ferran Torres to go in for Robert Lewandowski, Flick turned to Marcus Rashford.
It’s been talked about that the Premier League is a physical beast of a competition compared to La Liga. There are simply no easy games.
Even with Pedri in the game, Barcelona struggled to connect five passes. There was no path forward to create chances.
To me, it looks like the issue, in part, is burnout.
After the spirited effort at a comeback against Atletico Madrid last week, Barcelona has now had two games in row, against Athletic Club and Newcastle respectively, with very heavy legs.
In addition to that, the injury bug is officially hitting the team again, at the worst time possible.
There were several issues for Barca against Newcastle. Aside from the lack of intensity compared to their opponents, the Blaugrana fielded an awkward lineup.
Ronald Araujo had to fill in for Eric Garcia, who was already supposed to be filling in for Jules Kounde. João Cancelo was not brought in to play in this type of game, where defensive solidity was a must.
Marc Bernal has had some very good moments of late, but if you ask me, I still don’t think he’s ready for primetime. The absence of Frenkie de Jong was felt heavily in this match.
Now, once again, it’s up to Flick to come up with creative solutions to manage his team selection in the La Liga and Champions League games ahead.
They’re still where they want to be. Nursing a small lead at the top of the table in Spain, and the favorites going into the second leg tie against Newcastle at home.
One thing’s for sure, the return of players on the growing injury list can’t come soon enough.
For those who are left to fill in while they recover, it’s time to dig deep, and be pragmatic. They don’t have to blow teams away with their trademark goal scoring prowess, they just have to find a way to get results.
The cavalry isn’t far behind, but they are still a few weeks away.
All that matters in the Champions League is which team moves on.
Thanks to last minute lady luck, the Blaugrana are in a position to do just that.
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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