Barcelona was held to a goalless draw against Sevilla. Maybe one can say, the Catalans were extremely lucky to even come back with a point.
The clash between the first placed and third-placed team in La Liga ended in a stalemate. The draw still kept Barcelona at top of the League, but Barcelona's fate in the League may have been taken out of their hands. Real Madrid who plays tomorrow night will have a chance to move back to the League summit!
The performance showcased at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium raises a lot of questions about the team, especially about their ability to withstand such a heavy schedule, which is being played out.
Barcelona had a Bright Start to the Game
Barcelona started well in the game. We should have gone ahead in the initial exchange. Sevilla was struggling to create any meaningful chances, which in itself was a huge thing at Sanchez Pizjuan.
Despite dominating early on, there was something seriously missing with Barcelona's performance. They never looked fully fit, nor fully into the game. Many times we were wondering what's going on as no one can make any sense of the decisions being taken by players on the field.
With De Jong unavailable, Setien went with a trio of Vidal, Rakitic, and Busquets in the midfield. That midfield trio guaranteed nothing other than a loss of control. And once Sevilla settled down and took control, we clearly understood the drawback of such a midfield trio.
In my last article, I argued why Braithwaite deserves to start ahead of Griezmann. I was humbled royally and was forced to eat my word. The trio clicked but for some reason, they struggled to enforce themselves in the final third. It just the final pass or decision that was always wrong.
Lionel Messi looked like a Poor Shadow of himself
The struggle of the team can be mentioned by the number of times Messi messed up with controlling the ball or making that final pass. I have never seen his struggling with control like the way like last night. It wasn't the pressure exerted on him, it's just kept on happening.
Messi wasn't helped by a less creative midfield, which demanded him dropping deep all the time. No player attempted to infuse someplace in the game.
Sietien Failed to React to the Game's Demand
If someone felt that we had Valverde still on the bench, none can't be blamed. The game was calling for an immediate change of strategy but Valverde failed to respond. This was done even though he could have brought in five players in three substitutions.
And when he reacted, he made all the wrong choices. Arthur coming in was a mistake. Ansu Fati should have come in to introduce some speed into the wings. Griezmann and Arthur did nothing but brought in more of the same that was in the display so far in this match. Riqui Puig's introduction a bit earlier would have done wonders.
Had it not been for the spectacular Setien and a solid defense we would have lost the match. Setien cannot let the game drift like the way he allowed this game to be. More of this will end his tenure in the first year itself. Now it's up to Real Madrid, to make the move in the Title race.
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