How did PSG Expose Barcelona's Biggest Weaknesses? | 5 Headlines from 4-2 Loss

The Barcelona Podcast

PSG's 4-2 win over Barcelona: five problems exposed

The show reviews Barcelona's 4-2 loss to PSG and argues that PSG showed the standard of Champions League winners while Barcelona were overwhelmed by man-to-man pressure and struggled in midfield without Rodri. Despite bright spots from Pedri, Xavi Espart and Lamine Yamal, the host says defensive errors, set-piece issues and Bernal's readiness are serious concerns for Flick.

With Rodri missing from the starting XI, Barça were second best against PSG. The home team taught the Catalans a few lessons about the standard of Champions League winners despite goals from Xavi Espart and Lamine Yamal. 0:00 Completely Overwhelmed Early 3:53 Joan Garcìa Let Down 5:51 Pedri and Bernal Thoughts 11:42 Espart and Yamal Give Hope 14:28 PSG are the Standard Check out our merch in our store! - https://the-barcelona-podcast.creator-spring.com/ Listen to the full podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast ... Follow Me: Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/thebarcelon ... Twitter ➔ https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/barcablog TikTok ➔ https://www.tiktok.com/@barcelonapodcast BlueWireVideo

Transcript

How did PSG manage to expose all of Barcelona's weaknesses over the course of 90 minutes? Unfortunately, that is the focus of today's headlines because Barcelona managed to take a winnable match and then show that they just aren't at the level of the two-time defending Champions League champions. There are plenty of excuses, of course, rest, rotation, etc., etc., but PSG over the course of 90 minutes, as I said, did show that there are levels to this and Barcelona have some lessons to learn. Fortunately for us, those are the lessons that we're going to talk about today. As I do ponder the question whether or not Barcelona can learn some of those lessons before Eláico this weekend. So without wasting any other time, let's dive right in. Here are the five headlines to Barcelona's 4-2 loss to PSG. Headline one is completely overwhelmed early. Now the biggest talking point coming into this match was what I was going to take from it depending on the result. If Barcelona were to lose this match, which is what they did, I think a lot of people, including myself, did say going in that this is just a league phase, and yes, Hanzi Flick could have rotated Rodri better. And to the point where we expected, and me included, expected Rodri just to start this match, but Mark Bernol comes in to start for him. Rafini and Jared Martin were kind of the talking point. Were they going to be fit enough? The answer was also yes. But with Barcelona losing their first match of the season, let me say that again a little more slowly. Barcelona did lose their first match of the season after beginning with 11 straight wins. Yes, we could say there were alarm bells ringing, but I will also mention that for Hanzi Flick, the focus in the first half seasons has consistently been the La Liga title and getting that race to a big enough margin or even keeping up with Real Madrid in his first season. And we know that Real Madrid will come with them just down by six points in La Liga race. If they, that being the whites, get a win this weekend against Barcelona. it's down to just three. So, I do fully understand why Hanzi Flick would not have completely prioritized the away match in the Champions League phase against the team that won the title last season and is their only pot one opponent on the road. So, again, I know it's a lot of words and caveats and everything. All you need to know is PSG in Paris. That is going to be the hardest of the league phase for Barcelona on paper. So even if you get a negative result, which is what they did against PSG, they can still very cleanly and easily make the top eight of the league phase. And while it is not an excuse, this is another good note from Heljob with this stat. This is the youngest Barcelona 11 in an away match in the Champions League since 2004 against Shaktar Daesk. So it's 24.38 years of age on average. This was a young squad expected to be punched in the mouth in Paris and unfortunately that is what happened. Barcelona were completely overwhelmed from the first minute. All these different moments. Second minute, PSG is offside, but Pedri had it taken away. Kavara hits the post on side. Then Demlay was offside on the miss. Then the fifth minute, Pedri loses it. It ends in a weak dem shot. Then Bernal lost it for another shot. Then Barca lost it a third time and Dug shot wasn't enough to beat Dwan Garcia. But what Barcelona, I think, even in that first five or six minutes learned is that this was going to be the best man-to-man pressure that they have faced all season long. And through the first five minutes, I was worried that they were going to get an F minus on this test. In around the 10th minute, they did start to wake up a little bit with Pedri having a turn into space on the dribble wins a corner. 10th minute on that free kick, Rafini delivered to the back post, comes across for Gordon, but he can't get enough of a good touch on it at an awkward height. Then the 14th minute, it's good buildup down the left through Gordon and Rafinia. Almost long distance shot is wide. In the 17th minute, here's another bad, we'll say, catalyst or reason for what continued to go wrong in that first half. And Zach Canelo gets a pretty light yellow card and that affected the way he would defend the remainder of this match for the Portuguese fullback, which is not good for Barcelona. Headline two, Dwan Garcia let down. And let me be clear here, I'm not saying that Dwan Garcia had a let down or let down Koulles. No, but he was let down by the collective 10 players in front of him. When I say let down, you think a goalkeeper, you're going to immediately blame the two center backs in Gerard Martin and Pugarci. No, I actually thought they had just fine days for a team that conceded four goals. It was again the collective from the press and all those little holes we're about to talk about in that midfield and along the fullback flanks that really did lead to Dan Garcia having a bit too much action than he would have wanted to have. And that action actually did change and kind of increase there around the 20th minute when Usman Dem pulls up with a hamstring. Where have Koul seen that before? and he's replaced by another friendly face in Faren Torres. 25th minute, Jao Nevich puts the ball over the top on a platter for Faren Torres, but Juan Garcia comes out to meet him. And as that was happening, Almo goes down to be replaced by Fermy Lopez. So, for the first time in a while, both teams are forced into first half changes. I wonder if that did add a little bit more of an element to chaos than either coach wanted to see early in this first half. In the 29th minute, there is more PSG. Torres is again stopped twice. Pedri with an important block and Dwang Garcia proving to be a big-time keeper in the moment. But even Dwan Garcia could not keep all the balls out in the 38th minute. PSG go ahead for the first half. Lamin drops deep to help with the buildup which winds up not being a good thing. Misplays a ball to Bernol but PSG jumps on. It falls to Duier and he unloads a long distance shot. Kubarci dances with him. Jerard Martine doesn't step either expecting the shot and Dwan Garcia then is shielded with the two center backs in front of him from seeing such a quick shot by Duyag. It's a good shot, a good strike, sure, but this is really to me the one goal where there was a mistake from Kubarci and Jar Martin. They did not want to commit the foul with the fleefooted or quickfooted duet in front of them. But I think here one of them had to commit to taking down that angle completely and stepping in in some way and kind of trusting their own defensive acumen there. Headline three is Pedri and Bernol thoughts. Let's talk about the ying and the yang. Kind of the good and the bad for me in the midfield for Barcelona because as good as Pedri was and he was fantastic for the Bana on the night with the interceptions. He had three of them, one big chance created, six recoveries. He was doing everything for this Barcelona midfield in that first half. And it should have been the 40th minute 1-1 as Ped delivers a wonderful ball over the top to Fermy making the run into the half space. Fortunately, the goalkeeper cuts out the space that Fermy was trying to get into. And instead of trying to just dribble around him or shoot past him, chips it, doesn't work out. Then the rebound, Pcho gets a kick in the face. And as Pacho's on the ground, Fermine with that space available, crosses one in, but overcooks it for Rafinia. So again, two opportunities for Barcelona as we near the end of the first half. They could have gone 1-1. Just doesn't work out for them. But now, let's talk a little bit about systemically what went wrong in that first half. And I know I'm going to be more negative here by the first half than that second half where Barcela conceded all those goals and let the match go away. But I think over the course of 90 minutes, PSG had the answers. And you know me, I love Mark Bernol. Let me start there. And I also don't believe in scapegoats because I think Gordon also not great. Taken way too long to build his shots. Just didn't look confident there. Even though I think wingwise coming in the middle, positionally things were okay. Rafina also not 100% fit. I think that was part of the equation. It didn't work out. I did like that Rafine and Gordon were trying to overload that left side and it did work in moments and I say moments but it wasn't consistently something that Barcelona could use as a weapon and Canelo also didn't think it was working for him either to the point where I was questioning did Hanzi Flick and I did kind of disagree with him on this did he get his flanks wrong we will talk more about Aspar and his positive impact but canel on the left he just couldn't underlap the way he wanted because again Gordon is keeping that space rafini was dropping in quite a bit too and Pedri who was the one shading as the mid fielder in the double pivot a little bit more to the left he was kind of having to be free ranging so when canel was kind of stuck more at home and Shabia Spar who's been so good on those underlaps with him on the right side because it wasn't Rodri and it was Bernol this a detail we're about to get into but with Bernol he just wasn't supporting that right back spot the way that Rodri usually does so it did feel like Eric Garcia and Jul Kundai are even able to get forward more than a spar was in that first half which again also affects Lamini Maul because then he has to drop deeper to receive the ball and also support a spar. So whether or not Hanzi Flick got the flanks wrong or not, I think that's a little bit of a discussion point. But a big question we all had when we saw that starting lineup was whether or not Mark Bernol would be up to the moment. And I'm watching this morning in the UEFA Youth League, Ped Rodriguez, who just renewed his contract till 2030, I believe, and he looks like a guy in the next season or two ready for the first team. Now, of course, we know there's already too many mid throws in the first team as it is, and so one or two would have to be leaving. And I don't know if Pedro Rodriguez is better than the one or two who'd be leaving. So yeah, there's a log jam there. But I would also say as I'm watching that and then watching Bernal later in the day that there are levels to this, but I'm watching Bernal at youth level. He's pinging these long diagonals defensively. He looks unstoppable. Even though he's continued to grow with the first team, just physically he looks faster than everybody else, stronger, more confident in different phases of play. And it's not that he's lost that. Maybe he did lose a little bit with the ACL. It's not that he lost that, but there are levels to this to go from UA Youth League to even a spot in the first team to then being able to play and do well amongst the elites. And I think the biggest difference for me today on whether or not Barcelona could have succeeded with a different 11. And I'm not trying to make an excuse, but if it's Rodri for Bernol, I think Barcelona handled that man-to-man press so much differently because I think that man-to-man press was a big problem for Bernol that he's going to have to look back and Blick is going to have to work with him to improve upon. It's not just that he didn't get the diagonals right, but he also kind of got stuck in behind Pedri, but then he would try to make a run into the half space and he was so thoroughly outplayed by the World Cup winner, maybe underrated Fabian Ruiz. You saw that Fabian Ruiz when he would shift to the left, he would do it defensively, then he would come to the right in the buildup as part of that midfield and then he'd be peing these horizontal balls with his left foot and opening up his hips and everything was working in quick succession for those PSG counterattacks. again with Bernal being a bit out of position and it's not so much on Bernol there but again he's still just 19 and learning so you're going to have to wait for that process and hope that it can happen for him but this was clearly a level a bit too high and that meant that you say where is Bernol here but that meant that Pedri had to do everything and that bread and butter that Barcelona has had with so much success this season that Pedri to Laminium all diagonals just was not getting off you had Fabian Ruiz again thoroughly manmarking Bernol out of that first half for so much of it and then Xiao Ne would jump on to him. Routtinia would go to press, but the other one of those midfielders, be it Ja Nevish or Vatinia, would kind of be sitting in that hole, daring Pedri, who was having to drop deeper to receive the ball. And then the Minimal, who was also dropping deeper. He they were kind of forcing Pedri to drop deeper and say, "All right, if you're really going to be special with diagonals, beat us that way and then we're going to trust Lucas Hernandez in a 1v one with Lamini Maul." But that didn't really happen because Barcelona because their buildup was so deep trying to beat that pressure. They weren't able to get that ball all the way through which is why later on that diagonal doesn't come from Pedri for the lumini mall goal. It comes from Gerard Martin. But for Bernal again there are things to learn here and a big lesson I wouldn't even say it's a lesson for Hunick but is that is Bernol ready for the elite elite of Europe just yet? The answer is no. So I don't think he was going to be starting against Real Madrid and Eláico anyway but now I think that's definite. I hate hate hate using Mark Bernal as a scapegoat here, but being the midfielder and the way that Barcelona do function so properly with their what is always the case better midfield. When they lose the midfield battle, it does mean that over the course of 90 minutes, they do feel like they lost the match. Headline four is a spar and give hope. It wasn't all bad. I said Dwan Garcia continued to stand on his head. Hakeime should have put PSG up two nothing, but Dwan Garcia is there again to save the day. And then the 1-1 comes. We talked about Lamino having to drop deeper. That was over the course of 90 minutes. I said a bad thing for Barca, but in this instance, it works out. The action begin with Bernol getting fouled by John Neas on the opposite side of the field. Then Barcelona with the action move it horizontally. Something they did not do as well as PSG did on the evening. And it falls to Espar who then plays the one-two with FM Lopez who again did not have a great game coming on for Almo, but he's able to turn here, play Savviaspar through. And for Lucas Hernandez gets caught on the wrong side of him. If he was going to foul him for a goalc scoring opportunity, he knows it would have been a red. So that means that Aspar is in on goal and then he just finishes near post that the keeper in Sabanov probably should have done better here. But for Shaviaspar, big moment in the game. As I said, structurally I think he should have been on the left because I still think this kind of goal could have happened on the left. But point is Shaviaspar was a net positive surely for Barcelona with that goal. And I thought a pretty good performance as well against Cavara defensively. So maybe again looking at Kavara against the Spar. He was the right choice for Hanzi Flick. He certainly knows more than I do. And speaking of Cavara in the 59th minute, he goes down with an injury and needs help coming off the field. Marinos also looked to like he picked up a knock. So he also exit the game. Meanwhile, Adigi, Rodri, and Gabby come on for Athena, Pedri, and Bernol. And then Gordon goes to the nine. In the 71st minute, the second goal is coming for PSG. It all begins on a counter with Aake again getting in behind with a ball over the top and Torres hitting the post on the cross. It was deflected and the corner goes to PSG and that's where they score their goal. Lucas Hernandez heading in the 2-1. Duier with the delivery and it's Gordon who was out jumped and Hernandez found the top corner to beat Dwan Garcia. Yes, you know that Ronald Rajo was sent to Liverpool and with Ronald Rajo gone, yeah, he's not going to solve the problem for Barca in the air, but we've now seen Spar on two occasions, Gordon Kubarci, we've seen guys individually, Mano Mano just been beat in the air on set pieces for Barcelona this season. So they do have to, I think, go back to the drawing board here a little bit to figure a few things out. And right after the goal is scored, some call for Alejandra Baldi to be starting this match. Instead, he comes in for a spar, moving Canelo over to right back. With that move, it doesn't really lead to Baldi affecting the goal. But Barcelona, they have a 2-2 here. And this is that goal that we were kind of alluding to earlier with Jar Martin. Big diagonal over the top. It's headed into the path of Lamini Maul. And now he's already too deep. The goalkeeper probably could have done better to cut down the angle, but Lamini Maul too good here on the toe poke across across goal and puts it home for the 2-2. Not too much more to say of this goal other than Barcelona instantly on the counter when Lini Maul has space. You can see that good things can happen. And then headline five is PSG on the standard. Unfortunately for all of you with the game 2-2, you didn't have to wait too long for PSG to go ahead again and put this game out of reach for Barcelona. Come the 81st minute. It's a Vatinia answer. Barca defending narrow and compact with seven in the box of PSG's two. So it's Vatinia up top to find the corner and Dwan Garcia is again shielded from seeing it. This is that stepping quality though that Barcelona have to face in Europe with elite finishers even coming from the midfield. Betina hits the ball so sweetly as did Dier on his goal and for Barcelona can you just have to be a bit better. Fermine was probably the one that should have come out of the box and out of the shape, but Barcelona are just looking to close things down and get in those blocks that they hadn't in previous seasons, even under Hanzi Flick. Just wasn't working though. Vetina puts them ahead. Then 5 minutes later, it's Ruiz that I mentioned earlier. He adds the dagger for the 4-2. Hakeime dances with Rodri and Gerard Martine gets the cross off and Canelo loses Ruiz at the back post. We're not going to expect Canelo on tired legs to be able to make that kind of stop, but this is PSG 90 minutes. They're going to be relentless. Especially, this is where that restfulness part of this comes into play. Over the course of 90 minutes in the Champions League this part of the season, Barcelona are gonna have more tired legs because these players have been playing so much more in their league than Paris have. They just not say Paris don't care, but Luis week is able to just say, "Yeah, we're going to rotate fully, come the league, and then we'll worry about the Champions League when it's time." The big picture, I think, is that Barcelona did show plenty of fight. Remember this was 2-2 at one point but again we count the score after 90 minutes. Lini Maul Javius Spar showing some bright sides. Of course Pedri was his usual Pedri. I think people were ready to scapegoat him the Arsenal struggle but no Pedro was excellent. But even that plenty of fight just wasn't enough to get excited about. The 4-2 defeat exposed a lot of serious issues that Hansiflick now has to consider on defense and in that midfield if Rodri is unavailable for certain games. And now the question that I leave you with is can Barcelona learn from their mistakes in limited time before Eláico? And what are those mistakes they have to learn? The defensive errors. Do they have to work against a man-to-man press in Eláico? Again, those are some big tactical questions for Hanzi Flick to answer plus those personnel questions and the injury stuff, too. If y