“It’s simple, the opponent has been superior with the ball and without the ball.” They have won the duels, they have been more effective and the result clearly reflects what happened on the pitch. The responsibility is mine. If you have to individualize it, it is with the coach,” were the words of Luis Enrique shortly after the mulling of his Barcelona side by Unai Emery’s impressive PSG in the first leg of the round of 16 Champions League game on Tuesday night in Paris. Though Barcelona have been far from invincible this season having lost twice in La Liga this season and once in the Champions League group stage away to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City; what makes it embarrassing is the manner of defeat suffered by the Catalonian club with the Spanish club lucky to have ended the game with a deficit of four unreplied goals.
Emery might have had an inside knowledge of what to expect from Luis Enrique’s side but those having such thoughts might also argue he had defeated Barcelona only once in 24 attempts before the meeting on the night. Enrique has clearly put his job on the line judging from his team set-up which saw energetic and athletic Ivan Rakitic sacrificed for flair playing Andre Gommes who offered no protection to right-back Sergi Roberto and also missing a goal scoring opportunity earlier on in the first-half. While this might be the same treble winning Barca side of 2014/2015 season with only Dani Alves , Javier Mascherano and Xavi (not a regular starter that season with Rakitic preferred) missing in the regular line-up that season, the problem remains in the fact that Enrique’s Barca this season have been too static, predictable and unable to score goals when it matters most or even kill off games with the draws against Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and Malaga highlighting this problem.
Though the defense hasn’t been one of the best in Europe this season, the once feared and intimidating MSN (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) have been inconsistent and goal shy often relying so much on Lionel Messi’s heroics to win games. With most opponents adopting a more physical approach due to Barca’s inability to cover grounds in midfield with Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets more technical than physical there is need to restore Ivan Rakitic to the starting line-up as Gommes has flirted to deceive failing to find the back of the net in 16 League appearances since his 35 million euros move from Valencia last summer. Despite having 67 % of ball possession and a pass accuracy of 88% which betters PSG’s 43% ball possession and 85% passing accuracy, Barca could only record one shot on target (17% shot accuracy) all at the end of the game which is way behind PSG’s 10 shots on target and 77% shot accuracy clearly showing how Barcelona were totally outplayed.
Though there is still a second leg to be played in a fortnight, it is clear that Barcelona got everything wrong in the attacking side of the team in the summer transfer with Paco Alcacer scoring just a goal in the league, Dennis Suarez rarely given game time and Andre Gommes not yet up to Barca standards. With Champions League almost out of their sights, Real Madrid one point ahead in La Liga despite having two outstanding games, Enrique will be tempted to turn all his attention to the Copa del Rey with a final to play against Alaves at the end of the season. For now, Barca have been brought to their bare knees and will have to go back to the drawing board in the summer.
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