It seemed that everything was going right for Barcelona on Tuesday night. The blaugrana obliterated Celtic 7-0 in a group stage match of the UEFA Champions League.
Hardly any Barça player seemed to put a foot wrong. They dominated from the starting whistle to the final blow. This was a perfect example as to when the score line does reflect the match. Barcelona dominated possession and seemed to spend all game in Celtic’s half. When they did lose the ball, the swarming Barcelona pressure impelled the Celtic players into losing possession, and then Barça were right back at it.
It was the first game in which all of MSN started. You probably would have expected there to be some rust; they’ve played a minute amount of soccer together since May. But the trident seemed to be in midseason form right from the opening kickoff. All three stamped their impact on the game: Neymar collected four (FOUR!) assists and scored a wonderful free kick in the 50th minute, Luis Suárez used perfectly timed runs to bag a brace, and Lionel Messi provided a superb hat trick along with an assist.
Barcelona’s illustrious performance comes of the back of a stunning home loss to Alavés in the league. Languid showings from the entire squad allowed the newly promoted side to steal 3 points. It was a game that Barcelona deserved to lose; you can’t have your entire squad drop their guards at once.
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Many cules were upset with Barcelona, and particularly Luis Enrique. His decision to not play Piqué, Umtiti, and Sergi Roberto were questioned, and they proved fatal to Barça’s chances. This time, Barça’s put out a lineup that had the majority of their first XI.
Winning this match 7-0 was the perfect way to reinstall confidence, for a couple of reasons:
- Keeping a clean sheet was vital. Barça had a rather horrendous defensive performance on Saturday. With Piqué and Umtiti slotting in, Barcelona were much more confident and composed at the back.
- Barça were able to break down the defense quite easily, something that eluded them on Saturday. MSN had their incredible connection once again, and that spelled great news for Barcelona.
Today, we got to see the beautiful soccer that makes Barcelona the best team in the world. We expect to see that every single game. However, that level of consistency is just impossible, regardless of the team.
Tuesday’s performance was a reminder of what Barcelona can do at their best: utterly dismantle the opposition in a way that leaves us begging for more. It was a showing that was needed, not due to the opposition, but due to the psychology of the sport. Anytime you under perform against a lesser opposition, you’re going to try to force things in the next match. Often times, players can still be thinking about the previous match and try too hard to make things happen. Nonetheless, there were no such thoughts today.
Barça were able to keep a level head today. They didn’t let Saturday’s wretched performance impede them from taking care of business against Celtic. They’ll be looking to keep this momentum up when they take on Leganes on Saturday.