Barcelona’s dream run continued in Serbia last night as the Blaugrana recorded their seventh straight win across all competitions to push themselves up the UEFA Champions League standings.
Hansi Flick did not rotate his team as much as anticipated with only Hector Fort, Alejandro Balde and Dani Olmo rested from the previous outing. Considering the opposition’s low block which was not easy to get past, it was a sensible decision.
Ultimately, the Catalans SC past Crvena Zvezda, with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, and Inigo Martinez all scoring.
The win takes them to sixth place in the standings, with only Liverpool, Sporting CP, Monaco, Brest, and Inter Milan ahead of them.
Barça Universal brings you three takeaways from the team’s day out in Belgrade.
Cruise control
There was no dearth of hype around the Rajko Mitic Stadium ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with many calling the arena a serious fortress with a daunting and pressurising atmosphere.
As expected, fans flocked to the venue and imposed themselves well before kickoff with deafening chants from the stands. Barcelona, however, were surprisingly unperturbed.
Featuring a team with a very young core, there was serious doubt as to how the teenage talents would handle the atmosphere, but they were surprisingly the most calm of the lot as they played with serious maturity.
While chants for Crvena Zvezda dominated the stands, Barcelona dominated on the field from start to finish and did not drop their guard at any point in the game.
In the first half, the visitors controlled the proceedings with ease and had the better chances despite not being in top gear.
After the break, the side switched on and returned to the field playing on the highest gear, once again maintaining complete control and cruising through the 90 minutes with comfort.
Needless to say, this comes as huge praise for the team not only as an improvement from the second half against Espanyol but also given how difficult it is to maintain dominance without dropping one’s guard.
An unconventional hat-trick
It would not be fair to begin comparing individual players for their performances against Red Star Belgrade, for the entire team stepped up with serious conviction.
Pau Cubarsi battled on until he suffered a horrific wound, Inigo Martinez scored and led the defence while Marc Casado and Pedri again ran the show in midfield with the former, especially, putting in a monstrous shift.
Even the attack continued their free-flowing football and scored goals for fun. One player, however, who merits a special mention for his display last night is Jules Kounde.
It is almost impossible to believe that the Frenchman was a centre-back even two years ago, for his evolution since shifting to right-back has been phenomenal. Now, he can rightfully be called one of the best in the world in his position.
Kounde was sensational for Barcelona at right-back in Belgrade and registered a stunning hat-trick – of assists.
He first set up Robert Lewandowski’s second goal of the night in the 53rd minute before recording a perfect cut-back to set up Raphinha’s goal minutes later. His third assist came later in the game for Fermin Lopez, once again with a perfect cross.
Apart from his assists, he registered four key passes, and three defensive actions and completed 93% of his passes. Add to that his movement off the ball and one can see the full picture of Kounde’s masterclass.
Two players who did not belong
While endless positives can indeed be drawn for Barcelona’s win last night, it is equally important to not get carried away by what is working right but also turn attention to areas that disappointed.
Running such a critical check on the game at Rajko Mitic will reveal only two players in garnet-and-blue who disappointed last night, at least compared to the expectation placed around a team of such quality.
Gerard Martin was the first player who looked out of place on the night and it is clear that he is not a figure cut out for the first team yet.
The 22-year-old starlet was not convincing in defence, often failed to mark his man and even misplayed his passes in the final third. His lowest moment in the game was when he single-handedly played the opposition onside for their lone goal.
The second player to have left an overall negative impression was the team’s captain Frenkie de Jong who made his first start since coming back from injury.
De Jong was far from horrendous and did not make any blatant errors on the ball. The issue, however, was his uninspired demeanour and tendency to gravitate towards easy-passing outlets with minimal risk-taking.
He was not half as active as Casado off the ball either as his half-hearted pressure did not reap much reward. After all, his placement only pushed Pedri to a more advanced role where he could not exert his dominance in the game as he has done all season.
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