FC Barcelona vs Bayern Munich - 5 Key Takeaways

Barcelona’s last 8 Champions League defeats have come with at least a three goal margin! That should tell everything about the transition phase Barcelona is going through. The Bayern Munich loss was expected but hard to take. We should be controlling the game but instead it was all about dropping deep and defending. On the face of it, it’s just another disappointing big loss in the Champions League, but there is much more to it. Here are my key takeaways from the match between FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich. 

Follow the Philosophy 

Despite all the hardships the club is going through financially, there is one thing that Ronald Koeman must follow, and that is the Barcelona Philosophy. Against Bayern, we were just looking to sit back and defend. We had accepted the loss before the game started. The 3-5-2 might be seen as a defensive approach, but really it isn’t. You look at Tuchel’s Chelsea who play a similar formation, more like a 3-4-3, but their wing backs are bombing up and down the flank and even their centre backs are progressing the ball up the pitch very well. It’s all about how Koeman wants to use the formation. With the wingbacks bombing forward, Pedri and De Jong in advanced spaces and the centre backs progressing the ball, the system could well be brilliant for Barcelona. Cruyff himself used the 3-4-3 but the principles of positional awareness, control of the ball and pressing were intact. The coach can not be forced to play the 4-3-3, but he has make sure we are playing the Barcelona way. Barcelona had 0 shots on target against Bayern and they were out shot 5 to 17 by Bayern Munich. Bayern we’re leaving huge spaces in behind to exploit, but we couldn’t utilize their shortcomings. We always did expect the season to be tough, but that doesn’t mean that we must look to hang on in games, all we really want to see is progress.

Don’t blame the “Old Guard”

After every disappointing loss, the blame eventually falls on the veterans. As seasonal professionals they do have the ability to take criticism, but there is a point where you need to stop blaming them. Although Araujo was the star in defence, Pique was commanding it. Yes, Bayern scored 3, but it could have been much more. We aren’t blessed with options and the most sensible thing to do was to play Pique. Pique blocked 2 shots, made 5 clearances, 3 tackles, 2 interception and completed 4/5 long balls. I understand why people didn’t want Alba to start due to his recent injury and it’s also been reported that he had a fever, 24 hours before the match. But Alba had to start in such a game. The only other option we had was Alejandro Blade. Although, he was brilliant when he came on, starting him could have gone very bad. At the age of 19, you can’t put such pressure on the youngster to debut against Bayern Munich. If he started and had a great game, that would be exceptional. But if he was turned in and out by the pretty insane Bayern team, that would hugely affect the youngster’s confidence and moral in a negative manner. Gavi, of course, is a different matter. He seems really fearless, has made his debut already and he looks ready for big things. But he isn’t really a pivot and it would have taken great bravery from Koeman to start him over Busquets and move De Jong to the pivot. Gavi when he came on was brilliant, but Barcelona do not really have a tailor made replacement for Busquets, and unless Koeman is willing to experiment different players in that position, it will continue to be so. And then it comes to Roberto, and I completely agree that he shouldn’t have started this game and should never really be considered for the right back spot. Over the years, we have seen this gone very bad and at this point it has to stop. I would much prefer Oscar Mingueza to start at right back when Dest is not available. Roberto had quite a torrid game, contributed almost nothing to the team, couldn’t exploit the space left behind by Davies and in the end was booed by the fans. 

Recurring Problems

 

Ronald Koeman in his press conference had said that he has “given Barcelona a future”. I’m not so sure about the future, but he surely did secure the present. Last season, Koeman left the Dutch job and entered the FC Barcelona crisis. He has sturdied the ship, but is he really moving it forward? Last season, the major criticisms against Koeman was his tactical inability, game management and failing to win big games. And that seems to have continued this season. Koeman waited for Barcelona to concede another goal to bring on the youngsters, almost indicating that the game was done with. Where did the never-give-up attitude of this Barcelona disappear? Although we did think Bayern Munich would get the better of us in this match, we didn’t see the players put up a fight like they did in that PSG 2nd leg last season. Tactically, you have to say Koeman got it wrong. Playing Luuk De Jong when Bayern Munich were leaving so much space in behind was not sensible. Having such a deep block didn’t help Barcelona at the back or in attack. Memphis Depay was isolated and couldn’t do much, even when he did get on the ball. It is of course very early in the season, but these big games will define the season going forward.  

Address Midfield Balance

FC Barcelona has always had a brilliant midfield to boast and it has always been the centre of everything good that the team does. The midfield still consists of excellent players and exciting youngsters. The game always seemed to go well when Busquets had space and time, De Jong makes his runs into the box and Pedri goes all over the field. The midfield trio of De Jong, Busquets and Pedri has been brilliant for Barcelona, but against Bayern Munich the control was lacking. The blame can not be pinned on a specific player. Even last season we did see the midfield going fading in and out of form. It’s shocking to see that a midfield possessing such players not having control of the game. The midfield lost possession of the ball 18 times in the game. That spark really seemed to lack which reflected upon the entire team. When Barcelona get the midfield balance wrong, everything goes off. Gavi coming on made a huge difference, it expanded our midfield and provided some much needed dynamism. But it’s not really about the personnel here. We saw how good Pedri and Busquets were at the Euros for Spain under Luis Enrique and De Jong was arguably the best player for Barcelona last season bar Messi. For Barcelona to succeed this season, Koeman needs to get his midfield tactics and balance spot on.

The Positives

Well it’s not all doom and gloom, even in such a disappointing match we need to look for positives. Before we go on to that, I would like to iterate that Koeman does have some valid excuses. Losing Messi and Griezmann in the same transfer window isn’t easy and the squad is pretty depleted due to injuries. The two main positives for me in the starting XI were Ter Stegen and Araujo. Ter Stegen made a couple of good saves to deny Bayern Munich and he couldn’t do much about the goals conceded. Araujo was immense at the back, making last ditch tackles and challenges, clearing out the danger and really standing up to the challenge. After the game seemed lost, Koeman brought on the youngsters and that did give us some relief I should say. Gavi, Demir and Balde made their UCL debuts and they were quite good when they came on, providing some much needed energy and fearlessness. Barcelona’s game seemed to hit up a notch and we seemed confident moving the ball around. Hopefully, Koeman can put his faith into the youngsters and slowly ease them into the first team dynamics.

There you have it, my five key takeaways from the FC Barcelona vs Bayern Munich match-up. Comment down below what was your main takeaway from the game, share the content and why not check out the Squad Tier List where I ranked every single Barcelona player. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you back soon and remember it’s more than a blog.