3 Things We Learned: Deportivo La Coruña vs FC Barcelona

Barcelona suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Pepe Mel’s Deportivo La Coruna side.

Missing Neymar

The absence of Neymar was clearly felt for Barcelona. They seemed to lack a creative edge with Lionel Messi having an uncharacteristically poor game. There were other factors that affected the result,  but this match did show the amount of influence the Brazilian has on the team’s performance. He takes the burden off of Messi by providing an attacking threat on the left flank through his ability to successfully take-on a defender as well as delicately thread through balls into the box.

With this game being so close to the PSG match; they form an excellent example of Neymar’s importance to the team. For the big games, he thrives in the high pressure situations, but his consistency in terms of chance creation is also important in the less important matches.

Regardless, any muscular issues are important, so it was the right decision not to risk him. They have given Real Madrid the advantage, but there is still eleven games to play for the Catalans. Barcelona have shown over the past few years that they are consistent over a season with eight titles in the past twelve years. Also, they still need to play Real, and Los Blancos‘ game in at hand is away at Celta Vigo, so it isn’t an easy game by any means. Gerard Piqué summed it up well with his comments after the match.

Emotionally Drained

The majority of the players looked like they had a kind of ’emotional fatigue’ from the PSG match. It was a worry that after such an emotional game, there would be a dip in form for the game afterwards. In some ways they were fortunate that it wasn’t against a big team, but it’s still points lost regardless.

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Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez failed to step up in Neymar’s absence. The Argentinian lacked spark and looked flat during the game, which significantly dulled Barcelona’s attacking threat. This combined with Carles Gil’s excellent job of limiting Sergio Busquets’ control of the game to reduce the effectiveness of the 3-3-1-3 formation. Suárez was sloppy by his high standards. Granted, he did score at the start of the second half, but he had an excellent chance to score another equalizer near the end, which he hit straight at the keeper. It was a disappointing performance from all involved, but it’s one they have to learn and move on from.

Next: Lucho's Comments On The Result

Replacements

Luis Enrique opted to bring in some replacements after the energy-sapping game in midweek. These players let him down, though. Denis Suárez and Jordi Alba were key culprits in this. The Spanish midfielder was tasked with playing on the right side of the fluid front three. His cross did help cause Barcelona’s first goal, but he was wasteful with possession. It was his decision-making which was the major problem with wayward passes and poor crosses being common in this game. Hopefully, he can learn from this experience.

Jordi Alba was poor as well, which is worse because of his sheer experience. He was directly at fault for Deportivo’s second goal due to Álex Bergantiños easily beating him to a header from a corner which went in. He was at a disadvantage due to being slightly smaller, but he needed to put more pressure on the player because it was too easy for Bergantiños.

These players were involved in the occasion on Wednesday, even if they were bystanders on the touchline, but they needed to take the chance given to them. A strong squad has players capable of stepping up when needed, and this seems to be an issue for this side because they have one of, if not, the strongest first elevens in world football, but they struggle with squad rotation.