Lliga | Round 32: Real Sociedad - FC Barcelona 1-0

[Alik]

I've been a fan of Leicester ever since I was born

What! Me too!!

What are the chances of that?!

 

[Topolino]

What! Me too!!

What are the chances of that?!

Astronomically large, considering their recent success

 

[JackaL]

It's not a bad thing to bring Madrid teams back to the race. We are still in position to win the title and Madrid teams are not fully focusing on CL games, they are not giving up on league games. I wasn't expecting us to win the league with 10 points and out of 3 teams we have the best chance to win it.
Regarding Messi: he should freaking run, period. He's our most important player , but he should run like everyone else. I don't blame him for yesterday's game, he is not a machine and fatigue gets him too, but I don't understand the fans who think Messi should have special privileges and I don't understand people who have unrealistic expectations from him.

I disagree. Of course our run had to stop somewhere but we shouldn't have brought AM and RM back to into the race, not right now. The league probably would have ended with a 3-4 point lead but we wouldn't have felt them on our necks all the time. We have played much more games than our competitors and I feel that our players could have used a more "relaxed" finale of all the competitions we are running for.

As for Messi, again running statistics are misleading. Barca is probably (due to Cruyff etc.) one of the teams that have understood this early on. Of course you need to run, but this depends on your entire game philosophy. Bayern's players struggled when Pep told them that they put too much focus on running, sometimes after trainings, they felt they haven't done as much and went for a run all together, Pep in his usual facepalm mode of course. The same goes for Messi, depending on the instructions he has according to the tactics Lucho wants to use, Messi may run or not run as much as the fans want him to. But looking at the games and deciding he should run more, just because we lost seems to me like a kneejerk argument you can always use when something is not in our favor. Apart from tactics and our usual game set-up, Messi is probably the only guy in the entire team to show up consistently over years when things are bad, his team mates will probably understand very well that Messi's qualities are much more than "running". If somebody at AM does not run, the team will suffer, the same goes for Klopp's great Dortmund side, when they relied so much on running (I think they were always 10km above their opponents in all CL matches). At Barca, running has probably a different focus than at AM or any other team.

 

[Chomutov]

Strange we lost two league games in a row. Doesn´t happen many times. I think the players lost focus a bit due to the big gap in the league table. Which by the way is normal for human beings...Playing without Suarez, and partly Iniesta and Ivan (who is soooooo important for us as it comes to composure on the pitch) didn´t help, too, to win at such a difficult place like Anoeta.
I´m pretty sure the guys will get back to concentration from now on in the league. And I think both other teams won´t win all their remaining games.
We should be ok at the end of the season.

I´m more worried about the return leg at Calderon. We had a great opportunity to score 3-4 goals in the second half, but we weren´t clinical enough which could cost us dearly at the end. In terms of fighting spirit, motivation and also power and fitness I thought it was a good performance. We really put them under enormous pressure which you can only do when you don´t lack fitness. This should give us hope. I´m confident we will get through, players will be ready for the challenge I think and I simply can´t imagine us not scoring there.

 

[gasgas]

I am absolutely convinced that our problem is mainly mental/psychological. In our times, some things appear to be what they aren't.

Under Tata, we played one of the best half of the decade against Atletico Madrid in the CL return leg but it was one of the worst season of the last decade. That's just my personal opinion, but I still believe that we were potentially the best team in the world, it's just that mentally ( and maybe physically) we weren't there.

Under Enrique, Barca is a lot more versatile and can beat any team on their A game, but I noticed that there were phases, especially since the Arsenal game, were they massively dropped in terms of quality for several minutes. We clearly lack consistency this season.It's a long way to the top but it's even harder to stay at that level. Please correct me if I am wrong under Guardiola, we played football at a very very high level for 4 successive seasons. And every season, Guardiola made adjustmensts. Enrique made minor adjustments this season.The transfer ban and the injuries were actually a blessing in disguise and it helped us to discover new weapons we weren't even aware we had. It helped us improve massively to the extent that we demolished Real in their own backyard without Messi.

Unless someone is part of the Barca staff, I don't think that anyone here really knows why we are less consistent. So I'll just make a guess :

From Guardiola to Tata, we had a very solid construct in the midfield. We were physically inferior, but technically so superior that we forced the opposite team to defend and we dominated them.

With Suarez and Rakitic joining the club Enrique partially broke that construct and developed other aspects of Barca's game.We had to pass through an awakward transition from August 2014 till october 2014 where we managed to win without impressing. But Enrique had very clear ideas, he made the right adjustments and it finished to pay off : Barca played amazing football from February 2015 till the end of the season.
One of the keys to success under Enrique's system, and that's just my guess, is intensity. With all the games we played, it's safe to assume that we are now witnessing a diminished Barcelona. With Messi being out of form/gassed and Arda clearly not being able to bring what a 35 years old Xavi could bring, I am afraid that without our gala XI we lose the "construct" we had in the midfield. Actually, without Iniesta on the pitch, we are not the Barcelona of 2009-2015 anymore. I would argue that Enrique doesn't have the necessary players to further make adjustements. Rakitic is very good but he can't control the pace of the game nor can he overcome opposite pressing in thight areas of the field. Suarez is monstruous and the best number 9 in the world but he can't contribute to our possession game when needed. Neymar has massively improved his passing but he clearly cannot contribute to our build-up game as Messi, usually, does. When you have Rakitic, Suarez and Neymar instead of Xavi,Pedro and Villa you are forced to play a more direct and intense game. But if you#re not on your A game you start to become more clumsy, and when Messi is out of shape ( mentally and physically) you start to lose the construct you had in the midfield. The rest of this season will be very interesting to see how we will evolve.

Anyway this game will be the moment of truth for this season. Iniesta's leadership and Messi's mindset will be key.

You mean the CL QF 2013/14 vs atletico at the calderon where koke scored the first goal, and david villa hit the post 3/4 times.
That half was even worse then the second half vs bayern where we lost 4-0

 

[ATLBarcaFan]

We have played uninspired and looked tired for the last month. Don't like our chances on Wednesday

 

[Mido]

You mean the CL QF 2013/14 vs atletico at the calderon where koke scored the first goal, and david villa hit the post 3/4 times.
That half was even worse then the second half vs bayern where we lost 4-0

Not at all, David Villa was already gone champ, check your facts. It was under Tata Martino, the return leg in the CL quarter finals.

 

[gasgas]

Not at all, David Villa was already gone champ, check your facts. It was under Tata Martino, the return leg in the CL quarter finals.

You check your facts
David villa was playing for atletico.
And he hit the post 3/4 times in the supposedly best first half of the season and also gave the cross to adrian who headed it for koke to score.

 

[Mido]

You check your facts
David villa was playing for atletico.
And he hit the post 3/4 times in the supposedly best first half of the season and also gave the cross to adrian who headed it for koke to score.

yeah boy, doesnt change the matter of the fact that we outrageously dominated them in the second half, it was an astonishing beatdown in terms of football

 

[gasgas]

yeah boy, doesnt change the matter of the fact that we outrageously dominated them in the second half, it was an astonishing beatdown in terms of football

So not first half anymore
Atleti had plenty of chances in that half too.
Gabi missed one on one with pinto,
Cristian rodriguez had some clear chances too while for us I only remember one neyheader

 

[serghei]

I think we will score at least one. That 2-1 from last week is not such a bad result if we do our job and score at least 1 goal there.

 

[Mido]

So not first half anymore
Atleti had plenty of chances in that half too.
Gabi missed one on one with pinto,
Cristian rodriguez had some clear chances too while for us I only remember one neyheader

Dont remember having said first half son