14 - Javier Mascherano

[Scotsbarca]

He would not have done any better than Iniesta. What a joke. If he can't perform at CB he should be on the bench, not in our midfield.

He should never have been near that back line against a quality side like Bayern and everyone knows it .
Don't know why you think he would not have been better than Iniesta , because he was anonymous again tonight.

 

[Scotsbarca]

No way, Masche doesntt belong in midfield and you prefer Matthieu in defence over him?

I would have played Batra Pique and Mathieu at the back tonight with Masch in midfield instead of the invisible man.
We were very lucky to get away with that result tonight.

 

[Flavia]

Putting him in CB against teams of this quality is suicide. We can get away with this in most league games but when the opposition gets better him and Pique at the back are terrible.
The guy is a world class midfielder and should have played there tonight instead of Iniesta.

He was fine in the 1st leg. It was a collective failure. Pique wasn't his usual self, nor was Masch, or Busi, or Alba, or Alves.

 

[raskolnikov]

I would have played Batra Pique and Mathieu at the back tonight with Masch in midfield instead of the invisible man.
We were very lucky to get away with that result tonight.

Pique/Masche is our best cb pairing, we just suck at sitting back while Bayern is also a very good team.

 

[ZenI]

Yeah yeah, I know we failed as a team in the second, but Masch failed the most (with Busi close second).

 

[Scotsbarca]

He was fine in the 1st leg. It was a collective failure. Pique wasn't his usual self, nor was Masch, or Busi, or Alba, or Alves.

Totally agree but they were not having an off day they were against much better quality and it showed like it always does with these two at CB.

 

[ZenI]

Totally agree but they were not having an off day they were against much better quality and it showed like it always does with these two at CB.

Pique was more than alright, saved us 2-3 times. Problem was not always with our defence, we usually play much safer and better passes from backline to midfield to our forwards, but we were really sloppy today and exposed our defenders way to often with the rest of the team pushing up - we gave away the ball in midfield and they came running at us 3-4 players against Masch and Pique.

 

[sundar]

Bad game, but the midfield didnt give him any protection. Whenever he has a bad game, people started complaining that he should not play, terrible etc. But when busquests had bad games, they just dont comment or say one off game, bcos of his passing skills they r not bothered about his defending.

 

[Flavia]

Totally agree but they were not having an off day they were against much better quality and it showed like it always does with these two at CB.

It was the same Bayern they beat 3-0 at home.

 

[Scotsbarca]

It was the same Bayern they beat 3-0 at home.

The away leg was always going to be completely different and thats why Masch/Pique at CB was a joke .
To see him try to mark Lewandowski was just ridiculous.
That could have been a disaster tonight.

 

[Stric]

The thing about our defense now is that nobody can claim we've been successful this season simply because we'd outscore the opponent, which was the case in some previous seasons. The number of clean sheets and goals conceded speaks for itself. The defense is actually working brillianty, and I give credit to Lucho for making it happen with the exact same standard back four from those exact same previous seasons.

Alves, Pique, Mascherano and Alba defended against Bayern in the first leg and they did well. They didn't magically turn to shit overnight. They had less incentive in this game and it showed. Not much more to it.

 

[10Rivaldo]

Poor game, but I'm not worried. The entire team was clearly taking it easy, and understandably so. He's been brilliant all season when it mattered and all this kneejerk reaction makes me wonder how many of these people have actually been watching our games.

 

[ZenI]

He should never have been near that back line against a quality side like Bayern and everyone knows it .
Don't know why you think he would not have been better than Iniesta , because he was anonymous again tonight.

You either have a very short memory or you just started to watch Barca a couple of weeks ago. He's been a beast ever since the WC and overall our most consistent players beside Messi. Than one bad game and "wow so much suck, he should have never played". Yes he had a bad game, but it was not entirely his fault - Busi was actually the one who gave away the ball in very dangerous positions and they outnumbered our CB's.

 

[ZenI]

Poor game, but I'm not worried. The entire team was clearly taking it easy, and understandably so. He's been brilliant all season when it mattered and all this kneejerk reaction makes me wonder how many of these people have actually been watching our games.

Lol, exactly

 

[Scotsbarca]

You either have a very short memory or you just started to watch Barca a couple of weeks ago. He's been a beast ever since the WC and overall our most consistent players beside Messi. Than one bad game and "wow so much suck, he should have never played". Yes he had a bad game, but it was not entirely his fault - Busi was actually the one who gave away the ball in very dangerous positions and they outnumbered our CB's.

Been a fan since Romario days genius . Have a read back , i agree he's been terrific , i also think he's a world class midfielder as he's proved many times .
Where there is a problem is when you are up against better sides . He is above average in most league games but when up against quality like tonight he's a bombscare and to ask him to mark Lewandowski tonight was comical , even an expert like you could see that.
We badly need a tall strong CB for nights like tonight , Mascherano is not the answer in that position.