Three takeaways from Barcelona’s 4-3 win at Villarreal

It wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t always pretty, but Barcelona got the job done against a spirited and talented Villarreal side. If you haven’t checked out our player ratings from last night’s win then head on over there now, but here are three takeaways from the game yesterday.

Fullback depth is a huge issue for Barcelona

As soon as the teamsheet came out showing Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso, you knew it was going to be an interesting night.

Villarreal targeted the flanks consistently and they got a lot of joy down both, Roberto in particular struggled throughout, and he showed why he’s not a natural right back.

The Joao Cancelo move is still pending and the arrival of the Portuguese defender can’t come soon enough. When Barca is healthy, they’ll have one of the best starting fullback combinations in Europe with Cancelo and Alejandro Balde…but if either of them gets hurt, the depth behind them is close to non-existent.

I can handle Marcos Alonso every now and again, but watching either Sergi Roberto or a centre-back play right-back is painful. Along with Cancelo, we need a youthful RB to get excited about and we just don’t have that right now. Despite the flirtation with Ivan Fresneda, the Valladolid man ended up moving to Sporting Lisbon.

Should Ferran Torres be starting over Lewandowski

It’s far too early in the season to panic, we’re just three games into the La Liga campaign, but Lewandowski doesn’t look right. He’s dropping too deep, his movement looks slow, and he doesn’t have the same conviction in front of goal. He scored yesterday but it was a tap-in after some outstanding work by Lamine Yamal.

The man has scored nearly 500 goals, so you need to give him some time…but he’s also 35 and I think it’s fair to start wondering if maybe father time has caught up with him.

Ferran Torres on the other hand is looking as motivated as I’ve ever seen him. His movement is outstanding and he scored another goal yesterday. His pace and directness add a different dimension to Barca.

Maybe he looks so effective because he can come on with 20-30 minutes in the game and dominate against tired legs. Maybe he’s just settled in now and has regained his confidence.

Barcelona are on the road again next week against an Osasuna team full of confidence after their late win against Valencia yesterday, and Lewandowski’s performance will be under a microscope.

Ansu Fati is severely lacking in confidence

One of our key observations from the off-season was the performance of Ansu Fati and how he finally looked to be regaining his best form.

Now that seems a distant memory.

Fati has been consistently linked with a move away from Barca, and maybe that uncertainty is affecting his on-field performance because he looks a little lost at the moment.

Yesterday he was trying to force the issue, and it was clear that he was trying to make the statement. But when you try too hard, you often make bad decisions and those snowball into bad performances.

Next time we take the field the transfer window will be closed and hopefully, that helps draw a line under any uncertainty hanging over the squad.