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.
