Lliga | Round 31: FC Barcelona - Athletic Bilbao 1-0

[JamDav1982]

Aint gonna lie, team started playing better after raki came on. But Puig had the most impact.

Fatih was great as well

Rakitic has been the best midfielder since the restart to be fair.

 

[Sailor Mars]

Also still a huge proponent of braithwaite. Made all the right decisions and had great runs. Neglected sometimes

Only problem was that there was no one in the middle once he came on for Suarez. Fati was on the left. Braithwaite was mostly on the right. Messi was in his free role. Need a presence to occupy the opposing CBs.

 

[Horatio]

Also props to team not being gassed out final 30 mins.

 

[soul24rage]

This is Barca. We'll sell them.

fixed that for you

 

[Messigician]

Awful game

 

[vegitot]

Rakitic has been the best midfielder since the restart to be fair.

True. He finds his form

 

[khaled_a_d]

Where is that user that argued that seniors are playing because they are the only ones capable of winning in this team?? Is this match enough for you? Puig and Fati should start over Suarez and Arthur every match.

If you are speaking about me, then I said at most we can have 4 players U-25 in starting line up. That is Fati, FDJ, Arthur and Puig, unlikely even 4 of them at same time. Still leaves ton of amigos in starting line up.
Love Fati, but I doubt playing as starter every match is good for his development at his age.

 

[Horatio]

Few hiccups here and there but overall defense looked good. A lot of solid interceptions and defensive setup remained in tact.

 

[raskolnikov]

This year is the worst I have seen Messi look along with 2013/14. Still easily the best player in the world though even at 60%.

I dont want to see him decline though, rather blame it on injuries,tactics and corona than Leo getting old.

 

[Horatio]

This year is the worst I have seen Messi look along with 2013/14. Still easily the best player in the world though even at 60%.

I dont want to see him decline though, rather blame it on injuries,tactics and corona than Leo getting old.

Its the 3 month break. Relax. Even if Messi lost all pace it wouldnt explain his current shooting passing etc. Just off form because of the break.

 

[Andrew M]

Its the 3 month break. Relax. Even if Messi lost all pace it wouldnt explain his current shooting passing etc. Just off form because of the break.

I thought he looked ok

 

[Andrew M]

Its the 3 month break. Relax. Even if Messi lost all pace it wouldnt explain his current shooting passing etc. Just off form because of the break.

I thought he looked ok

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

This year is the worst I have seen Messi look along with 2013/14. Still easily the best player in the world though even at 60%.

I dont want to see him decline though, rather blame it on injuries,tactics and corona than Leo getting old.

He has to come too low to make anything happen, when he gets inside the penalty area he is exhausted and had overall worse shooting. No surprise imo.

 

[DonAndres]

The fact that his dribbling/burst looked very good today, but it was his passing and shooting that was weak indicates to me that it's a form issue and not physical decline. Also I think it's a buildup of bad habits where he falls too in love with the ball over the top even though Suarez/Alba don't stay alert enough to make the runs at all anymore. And when they do, they often times can't reach it the way they used to.

He's also getting very much crowded out in the center of the pitch by defenders recently, they don't want to give him an inch of space to cut and shoot. Our spacing is horrible with Griezmann out there at the LW, and playing a slow game due to guys like Arthur/Rakitic/Busi. Put out a better LW like Ansu, play a faster game so defenses can't reset, and Leo will have adequate space to operate in. With those conditions, he can easily find his rhythm again soon.

 

[Horatio]

^yes what i have been saying for weeks now