The devastating Cup defeat hurts but the total surrender of principles and the way Barcelona lost their heads in the second half is a much bigger blow.
Christensen, Pedri, FDJ, and Dembele missing in the 2nd leg of a semifinal is enormous. We were missing loosely the same caliber in the first leg and decided to park the bus and won in the Bernabeu. Why not do the same in the second and sacrifice style in sake of going through to a final?
There was a glaring option this leg to go negative again and try to ride out the 1-0 or even want to take it to PKs and Xavi was against it. He thought this starting XI was good enough to go another way.
I think this season is a one off for Xavi in that he'll never run into this same problem again -- being so low on depth -- but the mindset should always be win by any means and Xavi chose a riskier way.
Should he have made an exception for this second leg?
Thank you for your perspective and your belief that Barcelona's game should be built on principles that are known worldwide.
In my view, the critical factor was the absence of Dembele and Pedri in this game. Rafinha was unable to show anything against Kamavinga, Kessie and Roberto couldn't do anything in the center, and in the second half, the chaos that Real Madrid loves so much reigned supreme. In it, Real Madrid feels like a fish in water, and they simply washed away all remnants of Barcelona's game.
The most unfortunate thing for me is how easily Barcelona's model falls apart when quick adjustments are needed in the game.
Great writing DJ, always a temptation to abandon reason in the face of a defeat like this but you correctly center the biggest problem and hopefully we can learn and grow from this experience. Defeats will come but sticking with our identity will take us to the highest highs.
A club that wants to compete at the highest level does not sign Kessie,Raphinha,Ferran,Eric & a 100 year old Lewandowski when finances are tight.
Neither does it renew Alonso & Roberto.
Lewandowski brings a lot.
It's the team effort that is lacking.
It's easy to blame one person, but it's also BS.
Kessie put masterclass...and effed up.
He is still a fantastic signing
Why not line up in this, park the bus, and deny Madrid any space like in the first leg?
Ter Stegen
Araujo -- Kounde -- Alonso -- Balde
Eric -- Busi
Raphinha -- Sergi -- Gavi
Lewy
Christensen, Pedri, FDJ, and Dembele missing in the 2nd leg of a semifinal is enormous. We were missing loosely the same caliber in the first leg and decided to park the bus and won in the Bernabeu. Why not do the same in the second and sacrifice style in sake of going through to a final?
There was a glaring option this leg to go negative again and try to ride out the 1-0 or even want to take it to PKs and Xavi was against it. He thought this starting XI was good enough to go another way.
I think this season is a one off for Xavi in that he'll never run into this same problem again -- being so low on depth -- but the mindset should always be win by any means and Xavi chose a riskier way.
Should he have made an exception for this second leg?
One should play with all their strength and heart NO MATTER THE CURRENT SCORE.
This is the ONLY WAY to get a good result of sometimes just not too be overrun.
Whatever.
It's your effin job.
Stop with excuses. "Oh but we tried to score and we didn't and they counter!"
Bo hoo.
Just play the damn game to the very very end.
Thank you for your perspective and your belief that Barcelona's game should be built on principles that are known worldwide.
In my view, the critical factor was the absence of Dembele and Pedri in this game. Rafinha was unable to show anything against Kamavinga, Kessie and Roberto couldn't do anything in the center, and in the second half, the chaos that Real Madrid loves so much reigned supreme. In it, Real Madrid feels like a fish in water, and they simply washed away all remnants of Barcelona's game.
The most unfortunate thing for me is how easily Barcelona's model falls apart when quick adjustments are needed in the game.
Great writing DJ, always a temptation to abandon reason in the face of a defeat like this but you correctly center the biggest problem and hopefully we can learn and grow from this experience. Defeats will come but sticking with our identity will take us to the highest highs.