FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Better win Europe League then or hope some other Spanish team wins. More spots for CL and EL I assume.
La Liga | Round 15: FC Barcelona - Betis 0-1
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
gregorrin10
Senior Member
Actually I just checked, we have to finish 5th to get the EL, 6th is already Conference League, not a lot of spots in the EL and the Conference league for these top leagues, who have 4 CL spots guaranteed. Makes sense, since the Conference League was actually invented for the lesser leagues especially. So top 5 is a must for me, if not, then I prefer 7th or even 8th over 6th, and just full focus on the league next season, that way we could maybe even challenge for the title, while at least a return to top 4 should be guaranteed. And with some new much needed signings, winter and summer, to improve this team as Xavi sees fit.
But I do fear that no European football has a much bigger downside in both financial and recruitment options for next summer, so we should really be getting that top 5 finish this season somehow. Need to go big in January and bring in at least Ferran, maybe a defender or two as well, if at all possible. We need January signings more than ever this season. Haven't needed them as much in years as we do this season!
gregorrin10
Senior Member
Yep, fully agree. But we really do need to bring in someone who can give us goals in January, cause it's painfully clear we're sorely lacking it. Hopefully we manage to get Ferran (and maybe Cabral too, if we choose) and he can give us that.
Nazario1985
Senior Member
so sterile, in vitro won't work 
Birdy
Senior Member
Hate to see this forum being full of over-reactions and whining all the time.
The result was not good, but the game was much better than vs Villareal.
Even based on chances we had 2 big ones (xG > 0.3) and Betis had 1 (the goal). We could have still won this if more clinical.
And I can't understand how some were happy with the win at Villareal, with that display.
There is a lot to improve, but this was definitely much better performance than vs Villareal, or vs Espanyol
Yes, and actually those 25 min when Dembele and Adbe were both in, we were really dominant, created a big chance, and could have created more.
Xavi said that himself in his post-match presser: Xavi : "When the team was at its best, we conceded the goal ... We had 25 very good minutes in the second half and it is a very strong punishment"
Shows the importance really of having 2 PURE WINGERS on both sides, that the team hasn't seen since Pep was around
The result was not good, but the game was much better than vs Villareal.
Even based on chances we had 2 big ones (xG > 0.3) and Betis had 1 (the goal). We could have still won this if more clinical.
And I can't understand how some were happy with the win at Villareal, with that display.
There is a lot to improve, but this was definitely much better performance than vs Villareal, or vs Espanyol
Yes, and actually those 25 min when Dembele and Adbe were both in, we were really dominant, created a big chance, and could have created more.
Xavi said that himself in his post-match presser: Xavi : "When the team was at its best, we conceded the goal ... We had 25 very good minutes in the second half and it is a very strong punishment"
Shows the importance really of having 2 PURE WINGERS on both sides, that the team hasn't seen since Pep was around
Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
The first half, apart from the first 15 minutes or so, we were terrible, not better than the game against Villarreal or Espanyol at all. I don't understand how players could just collectively switch off or something. You don't get tired after just 15 minutes, you can slow down the pace but you should remain firm control of the game. We let Betis dominate us.
Second half was better but nothing to write home about.
behindbrowneyes
Well-known member
In halftime they showed some players warming up and passing the ball around. On my channel they showed Pique, Umtiti, Garcia and Mingueza. 4 (!) fucking CBs on the bench shows you everything what's wrong with the homogeneity of the squad.
It's crazy how toothless we are. The only one who created actual danger was Dembouz. But should we be surprised? Messi's insane numbers covered a lot. We've lost Suarez, Griezmann and him within a year. Not that I think it was a mistake to let them go. We just didn't get even one reliable scorer instead of them. Our best bets are Dembouz and Ansu. Both of them have a history of injuries. That's a big issue, because Leo, Suarez and Griezmann also had the undervalued quality of "availability".
It's crazy how toothless we are. The only one who created actual danger was Dembouz. But should we be surprised? Messi's insane numbers covered a lot. We've lost Suarez, Griezmann and him within a year. Not that I think it was a mistake to let them go. We just didn't get even one reliable scorer instead of them. Our best bets are Dembouz and Ansu. Both of them have a history of injuries. That's a big issue, because Leo, Suarez and Griezmann also had the undervalued quality of "availability".
Good post.
We lost Aguero and Braithwaite too, and to a much lesser extent sold Trincao, Konrad and messed up the registration of Collado
lol: ). I think if you go to any squad in Europe and remove their squad position equivalents of Messi, Griezmann, Braithwaite, Dembele, Ansu, Trincao and have their new signing retire then they would also be in for a world of pain.
serghei
Senior Member
Not so sure. Messi couldn't be re-signed because of his wages. Don't think Laporta wanted to get rid of him, that's more like a conspiracy theory. Just didn't have the money to extend him under the La Liga rules. It's not like we "sold" Messi.
With Griezmann, we took the right decision.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
Don't know what Laporta wanted or not, but the people close to him like Enric Masip or Jose Elias who is a part of Laporta's bank guarantee have more than once suggested that they wanted to move on from Messi anyway due to his age or various other reasons.
serghei
Senior Member
Yea, ok, but the official version is that his required wage was still way too high to get it registered. So no way we could have had Messi without signing that CVC Deal, which everyone says it's really bad.
But I do agree, having Messi would've made the transition smoother a bit. But not by that much. Remember, we were still trashed to pieces in CL with Amigos running the show.
So, the difference now is maybe CL football or no CL football next season. Now, I am not an accountant to know finance stuff, but speaking as a fan, if we are just for decor in CL and we get trashed and humiliated by any decent side, including this over the hill Juventus like we were last season, I'm not going to be missing CL personally. Maybe it's for the best we come back in CL when we're good enough to challenge, or at least put up a fight vs the big sides.
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DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
That is def the version we know of, altho paying Koeman 10m didn't seem to cause an issue.
I just don't know. We would have moved on from Messi anyway, but this was the worst timing ever. Should want to move on from someone like him when you have a good squad in place.
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