Rotation Dud
The Blaugrana try to get their cake and eat it too — and end up with pie on their face.
*Sigh*. Well, the unbeaten streak has ended, and it’s fitting that it happened on a day when the team just didn’t have the horses, because if there’s a story of this season so far, it’s FC Barcelona’s impressive resilience in the face of a squad decimated by injuries.
News & Notes
🏥 After Ter Stegen’s devastating injury, Barcelona were on the prowl for a cheap, veteran replacement keeper. They found one in Wojciech Szczesny.
As always, there were some technical bits to iron out with La Liga, but it seems as though he’s on his way and will likely be available next weekend. Now the real question is whether Flick thrusts him straight into the action, or continues giving Peña a chance… More on this in a sec.
🏥 Ansu almost made his return at the end of the match yesterday, and frankly I’m surprised he wasn’t given the opportunity instead of Torres, who continues to fall short — shocking I know, considering that’s been his modus operandi since arriving at Barça.
🏥 As things stand, it seems like Dani Olmo, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, and Fermín López are all in line to return after the international break at some point. Any one of them would provide a massive boost to the squad, but Olmo’s talismanic ability to break down set defences would help immensely against low-block teams like Osasuna and Getafe.
Match in Review: Osasuna vs Barcelona
I felt this match coming in my bones for weeks, and it’s a testament to the resilience of the team that they’ve been able to power through with positive results. I wrote previously that one of Flick’s main challenges was going to have to be his management of player rotations with eight first-team players out due to injury.
Speaking to the press before the Getafe match, Flick originally seemed to disagree with that assessment.
We have all the data from the players and at the moment it’s not like that, that he needs a rest. At the moment, everything is fine. He feels good. I don’t think that [against Getafe] he needs a rest.
Well, I guess his data after the Getafe match must’ve changed drastically, because a few days later he was taking the blame for the loss, and said it was “necessary” to rotate so heavily as the team had “so many matches and a lot of players had played so many minutes.”
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha especially were two players who needed a break, having played in every match for Barça, with Yamal also playing two matches for Spain. Unfortunately, they are also the only two difference-making advantage creators that are left in the squad. The team just doesn’t hum in the way it’s supposed to without them, and we saw that today.
Five players rotated from the Getafe match: not only Yamal, and Raphinha, but also Casadó, Martínez and Balde, with Pau Victor, Ferran Torres, Pablo Torre, Gerard Martín and Sergi Domínguez. Pedri came in and captained the side after having rested for the Getafe match, but it was clear that the chemistry wasn’t there.
It took 18 minutes for FC Barcelona to fall behind at El Sadar with Budimir’s header hitting the back of the net, but Barcelona was on the back foot from the start and never looked in control. And 10 minutes later Bryan Zaragoza, who was absolutely brilliant all game, scored with a wicked roll-over shot fake on a lightning-quick counter attack.
Pau Victor tried to make it a game again with a nice bit of initiative in noticing Sergio Herrera was badly-positioned, but his weak strike from long-distance was more of a goalkeeper mistake than a product of strong Barcelona play capable of shifting the momentum.
Yamal and Raphinha’s insertion into the match certainly provided a jolt to the dynamic, and Barcelona were immediately more dangerous. Salvaging some points at least looked possible, but Budimir’s penalty kick in the 72nd minute quickly dampened those hopes, which were extinguished with Abel Bretones’ fantastic long range shot 11 minutes later.
All in all, not an ideal result, but it was coming at some point. I’m chalking this one up to an unfortunate schedule loss, but let’s hope they’re able to bounce back one Tuesday against Young Boys.
Some quick final thoughts:
⚽️ Yamal managed to get on the scoresheet at the 89th minute with some individual brilliance and a wonderstrike from the edge of the box. When he and Raphinha came on, it was immediately clear that Barcelona was the better team, which was not a reality that had manifested itself at any point before then against Osasuna. Hopefully Flick is able to avoid the kind of Messi-dependency we’re starting to see from the team’s reliance on Yamal especially.
⚽️ I know some people might not have been impressed with Iñaki Peña’s performance yesterday. He certainly could’ve done better. However, I’m not sure that there’s much we can lay at his feet for this result. True, he did get completely dusted by Zaragoza, but that was mainly just a fantastic display of skill and execution.
⚽️ It feels unfair, because the result is clearly a team-wide failure. But it’s undeniable that the unproven, inexperienced defensive line was unprepared for Osasuna’s dynamism. We’ve seen how impressive the 17-year old Cubarsí can be, Sergi Dominguez and Gerard Martín, however, have yet to demonstrate the same qualities.
Martín in particular looked completely out of his depth, misplacing multiple passes, displaying errant touches, and kicking the ball away in panic rather than retaining possession. Hopefully just a blip on the radar for the 22 year-old.
Game Previews: Young Boys
A crucial match to get the first three points in the UCL league phase.
⚽️ What: Champions League, League Phase - Match 2
🏟️ Where: Estadi Olimpic Lluís Companys. Barcelona, Spain.
⏰ When: Tuesday, October 1st at 8pm (BST).
What to watch for: Who starts in the pivot position? Eric Garcia is suspended after being sent off due to Ter Stegen’s poor pass to him in a dangerous area of the pitch. My guess is that it’ll be Casadó, with Pedri and Pablo Torre next to him.
Prediction: FC Barcelona 2-1 Young Boys
Visca Barça!