After Barcelona lost 2-1 against Girona and surrendered the lead in La Liga, Hansi Flick will be scratching his head at some of the games he watched.
Joan Garcia – 8
Barcelona’s one saving grace – and he saved them three or four times. The reason there was controversy about the Girona winner was that he had stopped it early.
Jules Kounde – 3
Although he performed well, his last ball rarely found his teammates. It’s hard not to sound cruel, but there isn’t a team in La Liga that hasn’t created goalscoring opportunities by getting in behind Kounde or running at him, and while part of that is a systemic problem, he’s not helping either.
Pau Cubarsi – 6
He had a good first half and was among Barcelona’s better players, then did well to direct his header into the top corner of the opening ball. However, it was his mistake that cost Barcelona the equaliser, and in the final half hour he struggled to create many chances in the last half hour.
Eric Garcia – 6
Girona came in behind Barcelona regularly and Garcia struggled to put out the fires. It didn’t cause too much trouble before being subbed off after 73 minutes.
Gerard Martin – 5
Similar to Kounde, he didn’t give anything away in attack, and part of his problem is organizational. It didn’t do much to stop Girona going forward though, and they were subbed off after 63 minutes.
Frenkie de Jong – 4
The play went past de Jong in midfield. Barcelona couldn’t muster a sense of fluidity and de Jong found himself regularly covered. Defensively he was left exposed, but it’s hard to remember the tackle he made.
Dani Olmo – 5
He conceded a penalty that should have given Barcelona the lead, but added more depth to the case that he should not have played as part of a central midfield three. It is not just his position, it also lowers his qualities, and shows his weakness.
Fermin Lopez – 4
One of Fermin’s most disappointing performances. Normally you can count on his pressing, but he allowed opposition players to turn and run away today. Add in some rash shots with your teammates in better positions, and some bad tackles, it was a night to forget.
Lamine Yamal – 5
On the other hand, Lamine Yamal took responsibility again and again, getting the ball and making things happen. However, there is no getting away from the fact that he easily went one-on-one in the first half, then missed a penalty, two chances that should have been goals and would have changed the result.
Ferran Torres – 4
Four out of nine passes were completed in the Girona half, two shots went off target, and nothing else to talk about. Flick seems to think Torres is better than Lewandowski’s big shot, but this was another poor performance from Torres.
Raphinha – 7
Arguably he should have scored one of his two or three clear openings, but he hit the post twice before being sent off for a defensive tackle after an hour. Coincidentally, his exit coincided with Girona’s rise in the game, and Raphinha also made two key positions in his box running back to assist during the attack.
What you are holding
Alejandro Balde – 5.5
He got into good positions twice, but couldn’t pick his teammates either time.
Roony Bardghji – 6.5
It will probably reach there in Bardghji. Around, and especially around Lamine Yamal, things happened in Barcelona,
Ronald Araujo – 5.5
Not by mistake in part, and maybe I should have got in a cross late on that would have given Barcelona the lead.
Robert Lewandowski – 5.5
The frustrating thing for Lewandowski is that this is the first consistent run where Torres could be dropped, but it coincided with his touch down. During a difficult service, he abused his run time to get a goal disallowed and added a little in the final 17 minutes.
Marc Bernal – 6.5
We had a few good interventions in the last busy 15-20 minutes.
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