Barcelona comfortably pulled apart a toothless Deportivo side 4-0 at Camp Nou.
Paco Alcácer’s Barren Run Continues
Another match, another game full of missed chances from Paco Alcácer. It has to be said that the Deportivo keeper, Germán Lux, made some fine saves, but a couple of the chances should have been easy finishes for someone as skilled as Alcácer.
Aside from his finishing, he is making smart decisions with his runs to create the chances being good examples of this. It feels like his first goal is a matter of when rather than if.
One of his teammates provides context for Paco’s situation due to the similarities with the beginning of his career at Barça. This teammate is Luis Suárez. The Uruguayan had a run of five games without a goal, and he was a much more experienced striker when he joined compared to Alcácer.
This suggests that the Barça style of play is hard for strikers to get used to due to the fluidity in the final third that it demands. However, once Alcácer gets used to this he will have a system which is one of the best in the world for providing chances. Therefore patience with his current form seems the best solution.
Business As Usual for M-S-N
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A standard day at the office for the front three even though Lionel Messi came off the bench, and Suárez was subbed off at half-time in order to rest him.
The only thing missing was a Neymar goal to top off a brilliant performance. Messi scored with pretty much his first touch of the game, and Suárez had a fine finish of his own.
All three of them are looking sharp which is great news going in to the match against Manchester City. Well great news, unless of course you are Pep Guardiola or a Manchester City fan. The only problem now is ensuring that they all stay injury-free, and don’t get fatigued as the season goes on. This happened last season, and cost them a shot at repeating the treble, so Enrique will be aware of it.
Rafinha Steps Up
It wouldn’t be fair to do an analysis of the match without mentioning the talented Brazilian, Rafinha. He was excellent throughout, and took his chances well with two nice goals which helped break the deadlock. Rafinha finally seems to be fulfilling his potential, and if he continues this form then Barcelona have another weapon in their arsenal.
It was important that someone stepped up in the absence of Messi from the starting XI in order to avoid a potential ‘banana skin’. This Rafinha did, and with the midweek match against Manchester City looming it was important that Barça killed this game off early in order to rest key players.
Thanks to Rafinha they were able to do this due to being 3-0 up at half-time. Moments like this can seem insignificant currently, but in the long-term they can be the difference between winning and coming second or third in such a competitive league.