Three talking points from Barcelona 1-0 Celta Vigo

One of Barcelona’s worst performances of the season resulted in a win against Celta Vigo on Sunday night at Spotify Camp Nou. It was a game of two halves, but truth be told, the Catalans were not the better team in either.

Pedri’s simple finish early in the first half gave the hosts the lead, but the game went downhill from there onwards. To say that Barcelona scraped through would be flattering to the hosts.

The win takes them back to the top of the La Liga standings but there are serious concerns ahead of a crucial run of games. With Inter Milan and Real Madrid being the two opponents his team faces, Xavi will have to put on his thinking hat and do it fast.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 1-0 Celta Vigo.

1. Clean sheet number 7 in La Liga, but how?

It is no secret that Barcelona are struggling in defence. Despite having arguably the best pack of defensive reinforcements in Europe, Xavi now has only two centre-backs he can count on.

Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde suffered injuries in the international break before Andreas Christensen hobbled off against Inter Milan midweek. Now, only Gerard Pique and Eric Garcia remain.

Against Celta Vigo, the manager surprised everyone by keeping the latter on the bench. Instead, Marcos Alonso started with Pique in the defensive pairing. Alejandro Balde too was played out of position at right-back while Jordi Alba guarded the left-back position.

With an unstable and mosaic-like defensive four on Sunday, it seemed destined for Barcelona to concede a goal on the night. Yet, the team held on to a narrow one-goal lead and maintained a clean sheet against all odds.

The Catalans did not concede, not because of a brilliant show in defence but due to Celta’s poor finishing and Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s heroics. On another night, the scoreline could well have read four or even five goals to the visitors’ name.

They took 14 shots on the night, had six of them blocked, missed two big chances and forced Ter Stegen into action four times at Spotify Camp Nou.

2. A scandalous second half

The opening 25 minutes was all Barcelona had control of against the Galicians. The battle became more even in the second part of the opening period before Celta took the upper hand in the second half. From then on, there was no turning back.

The statistics from the second 45 minutes are horrifying for Barcelona and show that they were completely outplayed. While Barcelona recorded just two shots from minutes 45 to 90, the men in blue attempted a whopping 12.

Eduardo Coudet’s men had three shots on target, four off it, five shots blocked, two big chances missed and forced three saves from Barcelona’s goalkeeper in just the second half. Further, they maintained 49% possession against Xavi’s side at their own den.

Celta Vigo certainly did not deserve to lose on Sunday night and will feel harshly done by the final outcome. Needless to say, Xavi must go back to the drawing board for there are multiple flaws in his system that initially seemed to be working.

3. Far from the required morale boost

If Barcelona wish to progress further in the UEFA Champions League, they will have to produce a win midweek against Inter Milan. The must-win game comes with serious pressure, especially given that the Catalans fell to the same opposition less than a week ago.

Heading into a game where only one result is acceptable is easier with momentum on one’s side. A strong showing against Celta would have served as the perfect morale booster for Xavi’s men and a primer before they take on their biggest game of the season yet.

What unfolded at Spotify Camp Nou, however, was quite the contrary. Coming off the defeat at San Siro, the Blaugrana put in another sub-par performance last night. 

The defence was as shaky as it can get, while the attacking forces seemed incoherent and uncoordinated. Robert Lewandowski was completely invisible for the second game in succession while Ferran Torres looked like a ghost of his former self.

Ter Stegen stepped up in goal while Pedri and Gavi seemed to be the only ones trying to make a difference. Other than that, there were not many positives for the hosts. Needless to say, the sensations cannot be very positive heading into the UEFA Champions League clash.

The post Three talking points from Barcelona 1-0 Celta Vigo appeared first on Barca Universal.

from Barca Universal https://ift.tt/CP74sYE
via IFTTT