2 weeks Ago
Sunday night’s match at the Reale Arena made for uncomfortable viewing if you were a Barcelona fan. The performance, or lack of one, brought back memories of seasons past, where Barca routinely saved their poorest display of the season for their visit to San Sebastián. In recent times, the Catalans had broken the hoodoo of playing there, but Sunday was just terrible.
The visitors weren’t helped by a stunningly bad VAR call it has to be said, and even when viewing the footage that the VAR official will have seen, it’s still a stretch to definitively suggest that the ‘toe’ that was offside was actually Robert Lewandowski’s rather than Nayef Aguerd’s. - CONFIRMATION THAT ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI WAS NOT OFFSIDE! BARCELONA'S GOAL SHOULD HAVE STOOD! pic.twitter.
com/iLwf71zz6p — TheEuropeanLad (@TheEuropeanLad) November 10, 2024 Until that point Barca had been workmanlike at best in any event, though taking the lead might have allowed them to play efficiently on the counter as they’ve done many times this season. By seeing that, and subsequently other poor decisions go against them, it knocked the stuffing out of Hansi Flick’s side, but on the night they were second best throughout. Jules Kounde certainly missed having the outlet of Lamine Yamal ahead of him, but the Frenchman was woeful across the 90 minutes.
Bullied off the ball for the goal, his passing was off and his running looked laboured. He wasn’t alone in his inability to find an accurate cross either, with almost all of his team-mates aimlessly pumping balls into the box which rarely found their man. It was like watching Xavi-ball all over again, and for once Hansi Flick couldn’t do a thing about it.
Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images Dani Olmo’s introduction provided a brief glimmer of hope, but after a midweek bout of illness, the Spaniard just didn’t look right. Ansu Fati, given another chance to impress, has surely sealed his own fate now with yet another underwhelming showing. Gavi looked a little brighter but wasn’t really given long enough to affect play, and with no shots on target in the whole match Barca could’ve played for another 90 minutes and still not scored.
It was one of those games where everyone will just have to hold their hands up and say that they got it wrong, analyse what needs to happen to ensure there’s no repeat and move on. With a two-week break for internationals now, it’s the perfect time for everyone to reflect, and to put things right starting with another difficult away trip to Celta Vigo..
