FC Barcelona is slowing down. After a flamboyant start to the season in La Liga, marked by 11 victories in 12 matches, Hansi Flick’s men have been on the downside for several weeks. Beaten by Real Sociedad (1-0) and held in check by Celta Vigo (2-2), the Catalans lost at home against Las Palmas (1-2) last weekend.
5 points over the last 5 days for Barça
If the victory in the middle of the week in Mallorca (1-5) had been good for morale, the Barça players were expected to confirm their renewed form in the league, against Real Betis, this Saturday. Led by a Robert Lewandowski in great form, the Blaugranas conceded the equalizer from Giovanni Lo Celso from the penalty spot, after a foul by Frenkie de Jong on Vitor Roque. A decision which enraged Hansi Flick, sanctioned with a red card by Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz, referee of the match. And if Ferran Torres thought he would give Barcelona victory, Assane Diao deprived Barça of a victory in the last seconds of the match.
A draw (2-2), which was not to the taste of Jules Koundé. After the match, the French international admitted that his team had made a series of mistakes. “ We missed a good opportunity by conceding this goal in the last minutes. I think we left them alive at the end with losses and dangerous actions. In front of their home crowd, it’s a good team that plays well, develops and ends up beating you. The coach was disappointed, like us, but it continues, we have to learn from our mistakes. We need to take fewer risks in the final minutes. Maybe we need to be more pragmatic “, he told the Spanish media.
Hansi Flick raised his voice
Same story for Ferran Torres, whose goal at the end of the match did not allow Barcelona to leave with victory: “In the first half we weren’t at our best. In the second half we improved, but we failed to close the game and defend the result. We now have to think about the next match (against Dortmund in C1), because we don’t have much time to rest. I didn’t see the penalty. If they protested so much, there must be something wrong, but we were not good. If we had been good, we wouldn’t have to think about these things.”.
For his part, Hansi Flick did not hesitate to attack the performance of his players in the post-match press conference. “ I’m disappointed with what happened on the pitch because it was a game we had to win. We started badly and we started playing well after the first goal. In the second half we wanted to do better, but we couldn’t do it. We have a young team and we need to improve a lot, but it wasn’t a very good game. (…) We are capable of playing better. When there is more control we find better situations, but the match was very slow and we played too long, which is not one of our strong points, because it forces us to run too much. » Over these last five championship matches, FC Barcelona have taken five points. Opposed to Girona this Sunday, Real Madrid can come back to within two points of their Catalan rival, with one more match to play against Valencia. Barça can bite their fingers…
