Griezmann opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 5-0 victory against Leganes at the Camp Nou in Cope Del Rey competition. This was one of his best performances and a consistent one considering that he single-handedly save Barcelona in the previous round.
Check out some exciting GIFs of Griezmann's performance from last night below:
Barcelona fans can rest easy having entrusted the reins of the team in the hands of Quique Setién. This has to be the biggest message that came out of Barcelona's 5-0 victory over Leganes. Two consecutive bad results against Ibiza and Valencia have raised a lot of questions about whether Barcelona has made the right choice with their manager.
Last night result should have silenced all the doubters and critics at least for a day. Why I say a day because they all are going to come with twice the force from tomorrow. Barcelona playing well creates a strange kind of fear among detractors and opposition fans. So What are the biggest takeaways from this match?
Setién's First 5-0 victory at Barcelona would definitely be a sign of things to come. The performance was not as perfect as many hoped, especially the coach. The result shows the impact of it and where it can go from here!
Quique Setién was being absolutely Setien when asked about his feedback about the match. That question in normal circumstances does not make any sense. How will you feel when your team scores five past an opponent? Delighted, usually. At least for everyone else. But not for Setién!
I am happy with the result, but not completely happy with the performance.Quique Setién
For Setién, as he has explained countless times earlier, feelings matter the most than the result. For him, something was clearly missing in the performance. That's a good sign for fans, to have a Coach who has set a standard and will do everything to make the team there.
Quique Setien secured his first'manita' of his Barcelona Coaching career with a 5-0 victory over Leganes in the Copa Del Rey pre-quarterfinals. Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 4th minute. Griezmann is currently the leading scorer for Barcelona in the competition, followed closely by Messi who scored twice in this match. Lenglet and Arthur completed the necessary formalities for the manita.
Check Out the Highlights Video Below:
Barcelona Coach Quique Setién is expected to go in with his strongest eleven when the team take on Leganes at the Camp Nou in Copa Del Rey Pre-Quarter Final stage.
Barcelona will be playing their second match in this season's Copa del Rey competition tonight at the Camp Nou when they host Leganes. The relegation-threatened la Liga side will not be such a tough opponent for Barcelona at the Camp Nou unless we deliberately complicate things.
Following the almighty scare against Ibiza and the defeat against Valencia, Setién will not be in a mood to have too many experiments with the team line-up tonight. He would prefer to go with the best eleven, as he realizes the need for the players to understand his style of playing.
Reading between the lines on Setién's comment about Barcelona search for a striker, it is clear that the Manager have very little confidence on the club pulling this off.
Barcelona's pursuit for a striker is turning to be a big joke in footballing circles, as usual. Gone are those days, when Barcelona goes and gets things done. Now under this management, we make a huge amount of noise and get done absolutely nothing.
Under Laporta, we used to get to know of signings when the club is almost sure of on-boarding the player. Nowadays, I guess we don't do things like that. Even before our Sporting Director is thinking, the reports are leaked to the Catalan media, who plays it up, drives the cost up and technology makes it difficult to get stuff done.
There is sizeable interest among First League clubs for the securing the service of upcoming Barcelona star, Alex Collado. But Barcelona cannot afford not to have in the rank for the rest of the season.
One of the positives from Barcelona's 2-0 defeat at the Mestalla against Valencia would have been the opportunity to see the youngster, Alex Collado in action. The youngster was full of life despite the limited time, something which was extremely lacking in the match.
The latest news as reported by Sport suggests that the relegation fighting Real Mallorca is very much interested in securing the youngster's service for the rest of the season. Let's look at the reason why Barcelona should not even consider such an offer.
It's more or less official, Barcelona will not be able to sign Rodrigo in this winter market from Valencia. The talks between the two clubs have collapsed because of the high price tag associated.
Till last evening there were hopes of salvaging this deal, but now it appears completely dead and buried. This has become a pattern of late with our management. Now Barcelona needs to find a replacement as quickly as possible. Will they be able to?
True to the nature of every Transfer window, especially when it's coming to an end, too many things are happening at a frantic pace. The supposed Rodrigo deal may not happen, the youngster Carles Pérez may still continue and a number of players other than these could move out also.
There is no dearth of news surrounding Barcelona. Who all could be linked in for a move in next? Maybe a move-out!
Arturo Vidal was expected to leave in the winter market, with Inter being the prime destination. That all have changed with the arrival of Setién and the Chilean have become one of the most important players in midfield.
Has Arturo Vidal established himself as a key player under Quique Setién? That question in itself may sound unreasonable to some! After all the Setién regime is just three matches old and in those Vidal started only one, the first match. Despite being a non-starter, Setién would vouch that if there is a player who understood his philosophy so far, that has to be the Chilean.
It was quite evident from the last match, the defeat against Valencia. The moment Vidal came in for Arthur, there was a drastic change in Barcelona's options going forward. Even though it was undone by poor finishing upfront and poor defending, Vidal definitely held his head high.
It appears Barcelona will be finally making Rodrigo their priority signing in the winter market. His signing in all probability will be announced by the end of the day.
FC Barcelona quest for a replacement striker for the injured Luis Saurez appears to have found his logical conclusion with Rodrigo Moreno Machado. He was heavily involved with Barcelona since the opening of the winter transfer window. Once Quique Setién confirmed that he would sign a striker, his name was the most linked one.
In the match between Valencia and Barcelona at the weekend, all the attention was focussed on one person and that's Rodrigo himself. He definitely impressed Barcelona that day.
Barcelona is expected to make a signing which could surprise many! The unexpected star has come into prominence due to his familiarity with the league and other factors.
Barcelona has been searching for a replacement (better put backup) signing for the injured Luis Saurez for some time. From the time the window opened, everyone was speculating whether Barcelona will sign a striker in January. Even Barcelona's current coach, Setien is convinced of the need for signing a striker in January.
The moment the manager confirmed that he is looking for signing a striker, the rumor mills have been working a double shift. I guess we have been linked to everyone and anyone available in the market. The two major prospects that were sounded out were Rodrigo of Valencia and Lautaro of Inter Milan. These were non-starters from the beginning, but people believed in them for some reason. Now there is a new name emerging which could happen.
Arthur's future at Barcelona is under a serious cloud after he was part of two disappointing results under Quique Setién. The latest news coming out of various Barcelona outlets suggests that the coach doesn't see him as an essential part of his plans.
Quique Setién, the Barcelona Coach is planning for major haul in the summer. He has been very vocal about his displeasure about the way Barcelona played in the last two matches. Unlike Valverde, he is not someone who makes the usual statement - 'Everything is Good'. He calls it the way he sees.
The displeasure was quite evident with every word he spoke after the match. He indirectly pointed fingers at certain players, even though the media got it wrong by pointing to De Jong. It was quite evident from the first substitution he made, Vidal for Arthur. The Brazilian midfielder was touted as the great successor to both Xavi and Iniesta. Unfortunately have failed to live up to any of those expectations.
For Valencia it was fifth time lucky, after failing to defeat Barcelona in the previous five attempts in the League. In spite of Valencia playing brilliantly, these factors most contributed to Barcelona's downfall.
Many are still digesting the non-tasty defat of Barcelona last night. What makes it worse was the fact that Barcelona struggled to break down the defense, having to play a lot of horizontal passes. The possession statistic looks good, but the lack of end result makes the picture bleak.
It's not yet time to panic at the last two performances of Barcelona. The new coach needs a bit of time to set things right and also to get his team to understand his plans fully. It's easy to criticize the team and coach and deride them in general. A close look at the match clearly shows that not everything is bad about last night's performance. There were three major factors that contributed to such a bad result.
Quique Setién faced his first defeat as the Barcelona Manager and if things don't improve, may not be the last one. He has some tough questions to solve to fix this team.
FC Barcelona were handed a footballing masterclass by Valencia in being efficient and finding the chinks in the opponent's armor. This was done despite Barcelona hogging more than 70% of possession, the only positive from the match at the Mestalla.
Some may argue that what is the purpose of having so much possession if you are not going to make any changes. These so-called, fans aka Valeverde fan boys don't have a clue about how bad Barcelona have become. It will take an almighty effort for Setiénto fix this and there will be early hickups.
Quique Setién was handed his first defeat as Barcelona coach at the Mestalla against Valencia. His side went 2-0 down to a Valencia side who despite the lack of possession was decisive and rarely troubled. Two goals from Maxi Gomez were good enough for the victory, who hasn't managed to win against the Catalan side for the last seven encounters in the league.
Check out the highlights from the match below:
Barcelona's performance against Ibiza clearly demonstrates the need for signing a replacement for Luis Suarez. The youngsters are promising but not yet ready to step into makeup for the absence of the prolific striker.
There has been a whole set of the debate taking place regarding Luis Saurez's injury in the social media circles that surround FC Barcelona. So far both the side, (one which doesn't want the replacement considering the Boateng debacle and the other which wants the replacement ) weren't able to make a definite case on their side.
Barcelona's struggles in Ibiza have brought in a middle path and now almost everyone demands a replacement. With just days left for the transfer window to close, the time afforded to Barcelona is very limited. So do the kind of choices available to them.
Despite the team remaining more or less impotent for the greater part of the match, Setién should not be worried much with what happened at Ibiza and instead keep working on the positives.
Barcelona's performance against Ibiza has damped the spirit of rejuvenation we have experienced recently. It also brought back some of the doubts regarding this team once again to the forefront. The away form already was a worry. the arrival of Setién was supposed to fix this. Will he be able to fix it?
Once again, Barcelona dominated the possession which was indeed a good sign. Earlier in our away matches, we were struggling to even keep possession, so that's a welcome change even if the opponent was a Segunda B side. In any case, Barcelona was not in full strength.
FC Barcelona survived an almighty scare to win their opening match against Ibiza in the 2019-20 Copa Del Rey competition. It was Griezmann's twin strike which saved Barcelona from a huge upset after going behind in the 7th minute. Barcelona managed to draw through Griezmann only in the 72nd minute and won the match in the 4th minute of injury time.
The pitch and the condition, also the revamped starting line-up made a prospect of an upset very true as I mentioned in my preview to this match. Check out the highlights from the match below:
Barcelona is vary of the potential for an upset as they face Ibiza in Copa del Rey. The one-legged affair where the bigger teams play away from home could present a lot of issues for Setién’s team.
Barcelona Football Club opens its 2019-20 Copa del Rey campaign when they travel to the town of Ibiza to face the Segunda B side. Barcelona would be hoping to make amends in the competition after their disappointing 2-1 loss in the final. That defeat took away the chance to write a Glorious history in the Cup.
Despite the fact that the opponent is a Segunda B side, we have enough to worry about. The new format which is introduced this year allows for one match per round until the competition reaches the final stage. That means one bad day, is enough to get you out of the competition.
There has been a herculean difference between how Barcelona is playing now under Quique Setién and how they were doing under the sacked Valverde. And for many that in itself is a huge impact!
It always helps to do a tactical analysis of a game a day later. First, you don't have to break your head on what to write for the day, second, if the game is good you still would be re-entertain yourself with that great performance and most importantly it gets you thinking straight as the dust has already settled.
Even after a day, the happiness of seeing Barcelona going back to their roots hasn't diminished a bit. Like Gab Marcotti said in his ESPN Podcast, it was so great to see Barcelona back.
Hello Barcelona, Glad to See You Again!
Once again Lionel Messi was in sensational form against Granada, nothing special as far as he is concerend. Like his coach said, Messi was just being Messi!
Watch some of the spectacular actions of Messi in GIF format.
Don't be fooled by the narrow scoreline of the victory, this match's showcased why it is premature to write the obituaries for this Barcelona side. They returned back to their identity and looked solid, even though the Coach has a lot of work left.
Hope, that was what one looking for at the beginning of the match. And we definitely found that. People tend to get fooled by the 1-0 scoreline, don't be. This match was much more than the 1-0 scoreline, it was a reaffirmation that this Barcelona side is far from finished, they can look solid, they can be spectacular but above all, they still can bring joy to football fans with every move.
This was a match where many of us, the die-hard fans who were clamoring for returning back to basics feel vindicated. This was the Old Barcelona at least in possession. I don't think even in heydays under Guardiola we never had 82% possession. And there is a matter of 1005 passes put attempted.
FC Barcelona kick-started the Setién era with a promising 1-0 victory over Granada at the Camp Nou. Don't be fooled by the narrow scoreline. The impact of this game was huge especially the way we played, kept possession and pressed. Literally, this was the old Barcelona back in action.
Do not miss to see the highlights, it's a treat! Check out the highlights of the match below.
It's shocking to see a section of Barcelona fans, especially the Valverde Fanboys pitching for Setien's failure even before his first game. One has to wonder where their loyalties lie.
After so much wait by the majority of the fans, Ernesto Valverde's time came to end when the club sacked him unceremenously. For many, the sacking came too late for comfort. Many including myself believed he should have been sacked after the team collapsed at Anfield giving away a lead which the majority of top tier team wouldn't have.
That never happened, instead we were left to suffer under Valverde. The Valencia Cup failure, the numerous horrendous display against la Liga team at times even at Camp Nou, the horrible collapse in the Super cup, the list goes on.
Everyone is watching how Quique Setién will be handling the prospects coming out of La Masia and Barca B. And there is always the issue of Arturo Vidal popping up at any time.
Quique Setién arrival has been quiet to surprise for many including the fans and the Coach himself. That hasn't restricted Setién from making changes the way the club is run and also making critical sporting decisions. He already has made changes to Barcelona's training schedule to suit his likings.
The first casualty was the day off given to the players, and it was nice to see the players respond in a positive way to that. Everyone will be watching to see how Messi and Company react to these changes to their normal training schedule.
FC Barcelona have sacked Valverde and appointed the former Real Betis coach Quique Setién as the head coach of the first team.
After a long and hard struggle, the Valverde era has come to a close at Barcelona. As expected, the Club announced the sacking of Ernesto Valverde on Monday evening. Customary to what is a usual practice under this management, there was a huge amount of confusion that prevailed till that point.
Valverde wasn't given any information beforehand and he took charge of the practice session on Monday only to learn late in the evening that he is officially going to be sacked. The replacement was quite a surprise. None of us ever anticipated the arrival of Quique Setién, even though everyone fondly remembers how his Real Betis out-Barcelona us at the Camp Nou a year back.
Does Ernesto Valverde genuinely thinks he is wanted at the Club? Or is he staying to make sure that he gets the complete pay package for the season and who knows maybe Bartomeu will honour him with another contract!
Regardless of whether you like Ernesto Valverde or not, one has to agree that Barcelona Club has been really unprofessional in the way they have handled the recent situation. Every dealing has gone behind his back with Valverde himself expressing his displeasure to select media personals about his feeling of finding everything out from the media.
Despite the reported collapse of Barcelona's Xavi Job saga, Valverde's job is far from over. Now the heavy rumors have emerged of Barcelona handing over the reins of the first team to Barca B Team coach García Pimienta. Despite all these, Valverde remains clueless as he is kept out of the loop in every discussion.
Xavi Hernandez rumored decision to not accept the Barcelona Managerial Job at the moment has Slipped the Club to a Crisis. This is why Xavi may never land the Job at least in the next two year period.
The recent happenings at Football Club Barcelona really showcase the kind of crisis that has engulfed the club as a whole. Within hours from reportedly confirming Xavi as the manager of Barcelona, it now appears that the Legendary Spanish midfielder has decided to pass on the opportunity at least for now. It is reported that he is right now reluctant to take the job, but is all ready to take up the reins in the Summer.
Now Barcelona is stuck in a quagmire, where there is a Coach who no one wants but will never leave, and a Managerial job which no one will take. One of the options in front of Barcelona is the signing of Pochettino but the Club and everyone associated with the club is in favor of handing control to García Pimienta, the current Barca B Team Coach.
When it comes to being incompetent, this Barcelona Board trumps themselves every time with a better job. The latest episode is with the handling of Luis Saurez's injury layoff.
As if the already escalating list of worries weren't enough, Barcelona were handed a new thing to worry about following Luis Saurez's knee surgery. The latest reports suggest that the striker could be off action for almost four months. That's a huge deviation from the earlier one-month expected layoff.
This practically rules himself out of action for the rest of the seasoon. With age not being at his side, maybe he has seen his last actions at Barcelona as a regular first eleven player.
It might be happening, Barcelona is all set to announce Xavi Hernandez as the Coach of Barcelona tomorrow. This is to be to the delight of millions of Barcelona fans who were getting fed up with Valverde in charge.
Barcelona is all set to announce Xavi Hernandez as the manager of the first team tomorrow after the Board meeting. Xavi who is currently managing the Qatari club Al Saad is reported to have met with Barcelona Sporting Director and his former teammate Eric Abidal, who expressed the club's desire to have him at the helm. Matters moved fast once the Qatari club gave a statement which indicated that they will not stand in the way.
Even though no club source has confirmed the expected appointment, the Qatari Sports Channel Bein Sports have confirmed the deal. They already have reported about the farewell meeting which he will have with his players and club management. Xavi has been at Al Saad since 2015, first as a player and then as a coach.
Ernesto Valverde terrible rein at Barcelona could be coming to end by the January 13th of 2020; that would be a huge New Year present for Barcelona fans across the world.
Following Barcelona's not so surprising exit from Super Copa in Saudi Arabia, there are usual rumors of the impending sacking of Valverde. Those rumors have been received as God Send by the fans especially in social media and without much effort have gone viral.
Everyone now expects the sacking to be confirmed by the Board when they meet for their board meeting on Monday, 13th of January 2020. Many media outlets in Spain is reporting the same and for some reason, this time around this seems to be a possibility.
