Mess que un club
Barcelona’s 3-0 home loss to Bayern Munich once again sounded alarm bells at the Camp Nou. Alarm bells that seem to have been ringing constantly for about three years now, to varying levels of volume.
Barcelona surrendered the majority of possession to Bayern, failing to register one shot on target while playing a defensive 5-3-2 shape. It was time Barça had lost their opening Champions League fixture since 1997/98, when Faustino Asprilla scored a hat-trick against them for Newcastle.
Sergi Roberto got the worst of the crowd’s reaction to their drab performance, enduring boos and whistles throughout the game to the extent that he reportedly cried in the changing room after the game.
And according to Spanish newspaper AS, multiple players voiced their concerns about Ronald Koeman’s tactics in the game, upset with how defensive their approach was.
Leaving Luuk De Jong up front with Memphis Depay in the hope of scoring on the break while the other eight outfield players defend their own box was always going to make for a difficult watch. But given the stark contrast in quality between the two teams right now, they had little other option if they were to avoid another 8-2 humiliation. It was damage control from the start.
Concerns surrounding the performance reportedly went as high as board level, with AS also reporting that they held a meeting after the game at midnight to discuss these issues with Koeman.
Club president Joan Laporta is said to have led the meeting and made it clear to Koeman that the team must alter their approach to these games, especially when playing in front of a home crowd.
Barça’s league form is less concerning – thus far – with two wins and a draw from their first three games. But this loss to Bayern, which broke records for all the wrong reasons, will sting for a while yet.
