Barcelona’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea was the first time that Hansi Flick’s Barcelona has failed to score in Europe, and the defeat was riddled with the same alarm bells that have been ringing loudly in the German manager’s second season. It also reinforced the question that Culers are currently asking of the squad: Is Barcelona’s biggest issue the system, or is the players within it? At Stamford Bridge, there was clear evidence for both arguments, and maybe the scoreline was defined by more than just the three catastrophic individual errors.
Ferran Torres’ Miss and the Fragility of Individual Execution
Enzo Maresca’s tactics would likely not have been denied on the night, but Europe still comes down to elite players doing elite things in singular moments. Unfortunately for Ferran Torres, the entire match shifted in the sixth minute on his miss. Barça’s press, which would later get exposed on a number of occasions, was at least working early. Lamine Yamal jumped the passing lane, found Ferran Torres all alone in front of goal, and Barcelona had a chance to take control of the night.
Unfortunately the Ferran Torres Experience was on full display. Playing on the left wing, he did the job Culers know he does well and got into the free space behind the backline. His timing of runs is his elite skill and why Hansi Flick and other managers, even at international level, continue to trust him. The issue is that he doesn’t always do his job to finish chances and that’s exactly what happened. He pushes the shot wide and the match stayed even.
Cracks Began to Show
Despite Torres’ miss, Barcelona were executing part of the game plan in the early going. Malo Gusto’s heavy touches and the midfield’s denial of allowing Moises Caicedo and Reece James space on the ball forced much of Chelsea’s attacks down the wings. The rest defense did well to keep the ball in Chelsea’s half and generate a few more half chances. Yet, as the first half wore on, the cracks that point straight back to systemic issues started to appear.
One of the pressing triggers was to have Lamine Yamal press Trevoh Chalaboh on an angle to deny the initial pass to Marc Cucurella. Meanwhile, Lewandowski dropped in on Reece James and Ferran Torres marked Gusto. This left Wesley Fofana as the free man to pick the pass. Fofana consistently sent the ball back out wide to Cucurella, challenging Lamine Yamal’s work rate. As the game went on, and especially when Barcelona were down to 10 men, that space became more and more difficult for the injured teenager to make up.
A Failed Resolution
Flick did try to resolve this by allowing Gusto to be the free man, but that led to situations where two runners were heading towards Alejandro Balde. If Balde came forward, then Pau Cubarsí would be in the compromising situation to come out wide. That is precisely what happened on the second goal, which also happened to be a tremendous solo effort by Estêvão.
Aside from Balde, it’s hard to name a Barcelona player that covered himself in glory on the evening. It wasn’t just one player failing to do his job; it was a coordinated effort, or lack there of, in execution. Flick has always been willing to take risks and gamble with that high pressure, which should lead to more chances. But when chances aren’t being converted or the opponent has the talented personnel to break through, as any top Champions League side will have, Barça will continue to have issues.
Araújo and a Pattern for Concern
Despite Chelsea finding ways through the Blaugrana, the match was still in the balance until Araújo’s red card.
There are tons of things to love about Araújo’s profile. His physicality is hard to find around soccer and he’s clearly liked by his teammates for his emotional leadership. But the European blunders have added up. The red card against PSG, the lost duels against Inter Milan, and now this dissent and reckless challenge to equal a first half red card.
Was this a system issue? No. This was individual decision-making and poor judgement. It’s a pattern that Barcelona can’t afford in high-stake matches.
A Bit of Both
The cracks again showed in Flick’s risky system. Lamine Yamal was targeted when Chelsea had the ball and it worked for the home side. Unless Yamal created something special, Barça struggled to create big chances. Fortunately for Flick, Pedri will be back soon, Raphinha is working his way to fitness, and there is plenty of time to solve some of these issues. But until Barcelona stabilizes both the system and the individual execution, nights like Stamford Bridge will continue.
For more on this match and what went wrong for Barcelona, check out the 5 Headlines with The Barcelona Podcast:
