CL | Round 5: Celtic - FC Barcelona 0-2

[Horatio]

I said before the game Messi would score a brace

Liar. You said hattrick.

 

[Barcaman]

I said in chat he'd score two.

Noone scored a hattrick against Celtic in Glasgow, ever.

 

[Horatio]

I said in chat he'd score two.

Noone scored a hattrick against Celtic in Glasgow, ever.

Dude, I saw your post before you edited.

 

[Altomonte]

Well said, Bojan. Actually, comparing Real Madrid and Barča, I think Barça's performance today was superior. There is no reason to be afraid of RM at Camp Nou if we play the way we are capable of. Neymar needs to grow up though, he can't waste his energy on useless fights with mediocre opposition, like this Lustig guy. What I liked today was that Mascherano and Busquets are back to normal, and that Messi is playing better than ever. Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba have to remember that RM has dangerous counterattacking players, need to pay attention to defense!

 

[Barcaman]

Dude, I saw your post before you edited.

You are so confused.

Before the match, I said in the chat that Messi would score a brace.

Typed wrong here "hattrick" after the game and thus the edit.

 

[Catalan Fan]

Need Don back imo, helps control the midfield.Neymar still needs to grow up and stop getting involved in petty fights.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

We won comfortably much thanx to Messi.

I have no confidence in this midfield setup against stronger teams though. No control and simply too slow.

Well done to the team for securing the 1st place with one game in hand. Time to focus on La Liga and catching up Madrid!

I agree. Our midfield is still suspect at best and probably lack of great offense(esp. this season) is because we are not not dominating the midfield like we used to with Iniesta/Xavi combo. We just dont look as dominant as last few years, maybe players are starting to lack motivation or our midfield is just bad(which is probably the case), but something needs to happen. We certainly need upgrade to our midfield.

 

[Dan1983]

Well at the moment its Leverkusen, Psg, Bayern, Benfica or porto
Vs Dortmund, Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Leicester, Juventus when you finish second.

Year after year we get messed up cl ko draws. Even the weakest second placed teams are decent cl ko teams, no fodder.

Such a shame we won't be playing Arsenal haha

 

[Neeraj]

The back passes to the keeper are driving me absolutely insane. I want to break my television when I see the ball going from the edge of the opposition box, back all the way to MATS. Nobody seems to want to move out of tight spaces or maneuver out of spaces like we used to. It's so annoying as it lets the opposition push higher up the field and reset their shape.

I understand if we were actually adept at skilfully playing the ball out, like we used to. But it's clear for everyone to see we are absolutely horrendous at playing out from the back with this current team. There is panic and there's at least 2 chances created every game. With some last ditch defending and some luck, it may lead to a clearance or missed chance. Heck, teams like Dortmund or Sevilla are far better at playing out from the back than we are at this moment. Sevilla were breezing past our press in the first half at the Pizuan.

It's like we're stuck in this mindset where we have to follow a particular style which we are clearly not good enough to follow. Nor is our midfield good enough to receive the ball in tight areas or make penetrative passes; hence all the back passes to the keeper.

Let's not get carried away by this victory. An away victory in Europe is not something to scoff at, but this kind of performance is nowhere close to good enough against better opposition.

 

[serghei]

Such a shame we won't be playing Arsenal haha

Arsenal will finish 2nd most likely, so we can play them again in the Last 16.

 

[Dado]

We certainly need upgrade to our midfield.

The thing is it does not matter who in the current squad plays in the middle 3 the only true midfeilder is the center one Busquets who is positioned in the centre of the feild at all times.
The other 2 whoever they are at a given game are just placed to wide like some sorts of a midfielder/Left back-Right back hybrids.


In Lucho´s system it is the fullbacks who have far more freedom to go foward and attack due to the weird positioning of the left and right midfielder.

It does make our midfeild look sterile if you look at them trough a conventional lens, but the fact is Barcas tactics today are different.

 

[barcafan161]

Thank god for messi

 

[gasgas]

The back passes to the keeper are driving me absolutely insane. I want to break my television when I see the ball going from the edge of the opposition box, back all the way to MATS. Nobody seems to want to move out of tight spaces or maneuver out of spaces like we used to. It's so annoying as it lets the opposition push higher up the field and reset their shape.

I understand if we were actually adept at skilfully playing the ball out, like we used to. But it's clear for everyone to see we are absolutely horrendous at playing out from the back with this current team. There is panic and there's at least 2 chances created every game. With some last ditch defending and some luck, it may lead to a clearance or missed chance. Heck, teams like Dortmund or Sevilla are far better at playing out from the back than we are at this moment. Sevilla were breezing past our press in the first half at the Pizuan.

It's like we're stuck in this mindset where we have to follow a particular style which we are clearly not good enough to follow. Nor is our midfield good enough to receive the ball in tight areas or make penetrative passes; hence all the back passes to the keeper.

Let's not get carried away by this victory. An away victory in Europe is not something to scoff at, but this kind of performance is nowhere close to good enough against better opposition.

One of the better posts this month

 

[Caramel]

but the fact is Barcas tactics today are different.

It's not working so clearly, they're shit. So why not have an actual midfield which does actual midfield work

 

[kilian]

The back passes to the keeper are driving me absolutely insane. I want to break my television when I see the ball going from the edge of the opposition box, back all the way to MATS. Nobody seems to want to move out of tight spaces or maneuver out of spaces like we used to. It's so annoying as it lets the opposition push higher up the field and reset their shape.

I understand if we were actually adept at skilfully playing the ball out, like we used to. But it's clear for everyone to see we are absolutely horrendous at playing out from the back with this current team. There is panic and there's at least 2 chances created every game. With some last ditch defending and some luck, it may lead to a clearance or missed chance. Heck, teams like Dortmund or Sevilla are far better at playing out from the back than we are at this moment. Sevilla were breezing past our press in the first half at the Pizuan.

It's like we're stuck in this mindset where we have to follow a particular style which we are clearly not good enough to follow. Nor is our midfield good enough to receive the ball in tight areas or make penetrative passes; hence all the back passes to the keeper.

Let's not get carried away by this victory. An away victory in Europe is not something to scoff at, but this kind of performance is nowhere close to good enough against better opposition.

I agree with everything. Great post. I found myself cursing like a maniac yesterday at exact same things.

Although we still have some beautiful moments because of primarily Messi and Neymar, at the moment our football is just some boring, horrible shit.