Sucked. Garbage, except for MATS. Always trying to pass around and through compact defenses and never shooting at goal or testing the keeper. They will never learn, I guess.
37 game La Liga scoring streak snapped. Bad day, but Athletic also played a really good game. 6 point lead, but essentially it's 7.
So that useless competition CDR has cost Barca 4p, tired and injured Messi and a 1-1 against LPB that'll drain more energy. EV ********ing moron. Should have just lost against Sevilla. This will endanger CL against a strong Lyon.
A 10 point lead is down to to 6 and we have to play LPB away from home. A completely flat performance from us, created nothing and have Ter Stegen to than for getting a point . Really what is the point in Coutinho? It's obvious the CDR matches have taken precedence over La Liga. FFS
Midfielders looked slow as hell. Suarez' touches have been god awful and he's been getting worse and worse lately. MATS was great. Literally the only positive to take from this game.
My thoughts exactly. Take a shot from out of the box! Being one of the worst top teams in set pieces also hurts us. As is having no Alba and Dembele to attack the flanks and cross the ball.
It was pretty congested in the middle though. Bilbao didn’t give much space. I can’t even think of one occasion where Barca had a clear lane to shoot through from anywhere near the edge of the box.
Right. You have to get some opening to take a shot. What was missing was width. Alba out makes a big difference. SR gets the ball in space on the right and just passes it back. Semedo out of position was still good on defense, but didn't do much on offense. Alba shoes are big to fill.
Funny how LPB peak while Barca lose composure. LPB will ease past Ajax, beat Barca in CDR and take a big scalp while I see Lyon really giving Barca a hard time.
Yet another reason why Valverde needs to be fired. In games like this, you need two things. A tactical plan to break down sturdy defenses. A motivating element to your game so that the players can keep fighting on for the goal despite how frustrating the game has been. Valverde fails on both fronts. He has no tactical plan, all he does is rely on Messi to bail him out. He also isn't particularly good at motivating the players, the players seem to mostly motivate themselves. When was the last time you saw Valverde engage with the players from the sideline with an ounce of passion? Now go look at Guardiola's behavior against Chelsea. They're world's apart, and it makes a difference. He should've been fired after the Roma fiasco. This is a bad joke.
The anti-Copa contingent should note that since the Christmas/New Year break LPB have actually played one more match than Barca have due to that Liga make-up fixture against Villarreal caused by the FCWC. Yet these same people believe LPB are currently getting better while Barca - because of Copa involvement - are slumping.
The Copa hasn't hindered Barca's progression past the Round of 16. It's the UCL quarterfinals that Barca have struggled in for the last three seasons. Which is why the Copa excuses make no sense to me. If Lyon manage to advance, the Copa won't be the the reason for Barca's ouster. And I'll repeat that if 'extra' matches played in January and early February hurt teams in UEFA quarterfinals in March and April then why haven't Bundesliga clubs dominated the Champions and Europa League tournaments?
I know City isnt strong CL performer at KO stage but their league form does worry me if we face them along the way. Some injuries in recent months doesnt even affect them. Our player looks weaker after than 6-1 victory over Sevilla. Seems that they spent all their remaining fuel in that match.
Unless Dembele comes through to share the load on offense, not to mention all other important pieces are healthy, Barca are still too much dependent on Messii. Face a fairly strong team and it's going to be another frustrating CL year.
Copa’s impact on CL? The last 3 times Barca won the CL they also went all the way to the final in CdR. It is hard enough to prove a cause-and-effect when there is a correlation between two things. A correlation between going all the way in the Copa and failing in CL doesn’t even exist.
Not just the Champions League. 2006-07: Sevilla .................... won Copa ................... won Europa League 2008-09: FC Barcelona ........ won Copa ................... won Champions League 2009-10: Atletico Madrid ..... reached Copa final ..... won Europa League 2010-11: FC Barcelona ........ reached Copa final ..... won Champions League 2011-12: Athletic Bilbao ...... reached Copa final ..... reached Europa League final 2013-14: Real Madrid ........... won Copa ................... won Champions League 2014-15: FC Barcelona ........ won Copa .................... won Champions League 2015-16: Sevilla .................... reached Copa final ..... won Europa League
Arthur, Alba and Dembele were all badly missed. big opportunity missed here to extend the lead at the top of LaLiga, but away to Bilbao is always difficult.
It eventually will, not to mention the Liga as well with 4p dropped and letting LPB in the race which will fuel them even more now. Two of the biggest and important trophies jeopardised for useless CDR.