Something that brings us some extra hope in this tough season.
Intense pressing (by everyone)
Another fact proven: Barca are different when everyone’s trying to press the opposition. Against Real Sociedad, even Leo Messi was running all over the pitch to get the ball as soon as possible (confirmed by Koeman).
Messi’s heatmap vs Real Sociedad:
Let’s just recall all of the greatest wins gained by Barca this season: against Osasuna, Real Betis, Juventus (2-0). All of them were secured when the team were particularly active at counter pressing. As Jordi Alba said after the game, this is the way forward.
We had some real scoring chances
Sometimes even Messi’s 12 shots in a single game don’t make an impression that we posed enough danger in front of the opposition goal.
Wednesday’s game was a different case: apart from great goals scored by Alba and Frenkie de Jong, there were some clear-cut chances created for Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite. If they converted them, we could possibly wrap the game up even earlier.
Youngsters on show again
Ronald Koeman made a highly-anticipated move by putting on both Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza in the starting eleven.
Was it a positive experience? Well, yes. We can’t say the new centre-back pairing were faultless but as soon as Clement Lenglet stepped onto the pitch, we started to have many more problems at the back than before.
Real joy on players’ faces
Honestly, we haven’t seen such joyful reactions to Barca’s scored goals for a long time. De Jong looked so relieved after finding the net as if it was his first career goal.
Also, if you watched the game carefully, you could hear the players reacting to every referee decision in a very emotional way – they really cared about the outcome this time and it’s a very positive vibe.
What impressed YOU most in Wednesday’s game?
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