Koeman surprised again with the eleven. And it failed. He left Clément Lenglet on the bench to bet on Araújo and Mingueza, who this time was not at their level, and gave Frenkie de Jong a rest. But that did not give place in the eleven to Miralem Pjanic. The Dutchman preferred Philippe Coutinho and placed Pedri with Busquets in the center of the field. Above, the new starting striker with Braithwaite, Griezmann and Messi. This was the one by one of Barça.
Ter Stegen. He saved the game for Barça in the first half with two saves. One shot from Carlos Soler from the front and the other from a header from Maxi. Its habitat is to be under sticks. It costs him more to read the plays. An example, 2-2, in which he could not anticipate in the center. In the 0-1 I was sold
Dest. Insistent on the right, with a tremendous journey. However, he lacks clairvoyance in one-on-one. Even so, he is a player who has given a competitive point to the team, but the blind is lowered in the rival area.
Araújo. Golazo of scissors and serious game of the Uruguayan central, who is settling in the defense. Much more than that of his dance partner.
Mingueza. Suspense. He ate Maxi's 2-2 and a couple more reading and speed errors almost cost Barça two more goals. He already suffered in the match against Real Sociedad, and in the Cádiz goal. Koeman must rethink the plan. In a fit of rage, however, he was able to make it 3-2.
Jordi Alba. He saved 1-1 thanks to his intuition and his attitude to go for the ball that came after the penalty taken by Messi. He arrived less than before the Royal Society,
Busquets. It is no longer that he has lost pace of play and speed of thought and execution, also precision in passing. Two very serious losses almost cost Barça two goals. He had to be replaced by Koeman at halftime. Suspense. Even so when he's gone, the team turns into chaos
Pedri. He tried until the gasoline lasted. He does everything with discretion. He needs to try more from outside the area. And get better at shooting. He tried it with a cross shot that went high. He ended up tired.
Coutinho. There are players who are not lucky. Coutinho is one of them. In addition to not being constant, he was able to score the goal of the game with a great ride and a beautiful cross shot that, however, went by inches.
Griezmann. He corrected his mistake at the 0-1 mark with the intelligence to jump when he felt the contact of Gayá. He was less fine and less game generator than in the match against Real.
Messi. It equaled Pelé's record, but it wasn't final once again. Before, his shots came after thoughtful decisions. Now, it is to finish the play by finishing it many times. These games that I solved before are already making it a bit uphill. He missed the penalty but had the courage to go all out to tie the game.
Braithwaite. As usual. Willful and not very fine. You can not blame him for anything because he stretches the team with a tremendous job in unchecking. But it lacks the killer point of the cracks. Still, approved.
In the second part they appeared:
De Jong. He's at a very good level of play. He came out and gave Barça energy even though the team broke in two and played like crazy. It has grown in the last games.
Lenglet. Circumstantial minutes in a strange change from Koeman, who ended up playing with three centrals.
Pjanic. Testimonial. A strange case that of the Bosnian.