Two clear errors by Barça and a sending off condemn the ‘culers’ in Monaco
BARCELONA, 19 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona are no longer unbeaten at the start of the season with the defeat suffered this Thursday against AS Monaco (2-1) at the Stade Louis II, in the opening of Hansi Flick’s time in the Champions League, where the Blaugrana team does lose and continues to suffer, as in recent years, also paying dearly for defensive errors that had not been seen until now this campaign.
All the good things that Flick’s Barça had in LaLiga EA Sports, which dominates with five wins in as many games and with very good play, were not seen in Monaco. Not at all. On the contrary, this Barça was very similar to Xavi’s, Koeman’s, perhaps even Setién’s, which crashed against Flick’s Bayern Munich. The best thing? That the game was strange and that Barça started it with the early expulsion of Eric Garcia.
Lamine Yamal, with his goal and some other flashes of brilliance, was one of the few things that saved him on a disastrous night for Raphinha, who finished the match despite some very obvious errors. Flick was perhaps slow to make his move, and he did so after conceding the 2-1 and with his team physically exhausted. Paradigms of this debut in the Champions League; the best of this new Barça happened in reverse.
But in Monaco everything went the other way. In the 11th minute, Eric Garcia, who was forming a double pivot with the young Marc Casadó – again very well – was sent off for touching Minamino from behind after Marc-André Ter Stegen’s gift, which gave the ball to an Eric who didn’t want it, with the Japanese player glued to his back.
An erratic night, one that awakens ghosts from the past. A night to forget or, better yet, to learn a lot from. Monaco won the Gamper this summer (0-3) and confirmed their good start to the season by once again beating a Barça that showed its worst side and, in inferiority, lost by the minimum. Arguments to rely on, just like seeing Ansu Fati playing again or confirming that Lamine Yamal, even when he touches the ball a few times, scores.
Bad start and bad start for Flick’s new Barça in the Champions League, but there is still a world ahead in this Champions League with the new ‘play-off’ format. They did not score points, could not get better sensations or transfer the steamroller mode of LaLiga to Europe. Quite the contrary, but there is room for improvement and, given what we have seen in the League, this Barça was a mirage.
It was, in a way, an oasis in reverse; it was like passing through a small desert in the middle of green grass. And we saw Lamine Yamal’s first goal, supposedly the first of many, in the Champions League. But playing with one less player from the 11th minute was too much for this Barça that, with so many casualties, had to rely on some substitutes that many don’t know: Gerard Martín and Sergi Domínguez.
It all came together shortly after the start, when Ter Stegen gave a poisoned ball to Eric Garcia, short and with Minamino lurking. The Japanese anticipated, the Catalan centre-back tried to recover the ball but his entry from behind cost him a straight red card, on the edge of the area. Change of script. Like when Ronald Araujo was sent off in the return leg of the quarter-final against PSG when everything was going his way and led to the French comeback.
Shortly after being reduced to one man, Barça had one of those chances that cannot be wasted, especially when they were down to one man. Robert Lewandowski fought for the ball and won it, passed it to Raphinha, who, with a free field to face Köhn, fell asleep and allowed Singo to steal the ball from him before he could even think about which space to choose to try to score.
And on top of that, it had worse consequences. Because three minutes later, Akliouche received a harmless ball that he turned into gold; into a goal that opened the scoring. Barça, down to 10 men, were forced into a very difficult comeback. And Akliouche showed that, when things start out strange, they can get even weirder. He went against the entire Blaugrana defence, cut back and shot between three players and nobody touched the ball that slipped in off Ter Stegen’s left post.
Barça needed a spark of magic, having been disappointed and deflated after the double setback in the form of a red card and a goal against. And there was Lamine Yamal’s magic wand, who, in the first counterattack in which he was able to do his thing, controlled the ball outside the area, faced KONG and beat the Monegasque goalkeeper at his near post. Air and hope for a Barça in need.
That goal from Lamine changed the course of the match. Barça believed they could get something from the Stade Louis II and, despite AS Monaco not giving up on anything, Alejandro Balde got a poor finish on a ball that fell to him in the area after a rebound caused by a previous shot from Robert Lewandowski. Another match, with comings and goings, when minutes before Barça seemed to be asleep and sold out. Of course, there was a big scare included when Monaco scored, but with Singo clearly offside.
But after the break, things got worse. Barça could have taken advantage of another counterattack, yes, but they didn’t. The errors increased as the physical wear and tear grew – logical, against a Monaco team so strong and with superior numbers. And although Lamine Yamal saw Raphinha’s run in his own half and sent him a long ball, the Brazilian had a hard time getting there and, when he did, he had the Monaco goalkeeper in front of him, who was very successful in stopping the Blaugrana’s attempt at an own pass.
The ‘capi’ Ter Stegen tried to make up for his initial error and some other inaccuracies with good saves, such as putting both hands out and his flight to show off a long shot from Vanderson, or with a strong handball-style hand on a missile he received from inside the area. But he could not do much more against George Ilenikhena alone in front of him after a marking error by Iñigo Martínez, who did not cover the striker. The latter, fresh after coming on from the bench, faced Ter Stegen and, despite the German touching the ball, beat him and put the final score at 2-1.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: AS MONACO, 2 – FC BARCELONA, 1 (1-1, at half-time).
–EQUIPMENT.
AS MONAC: Kohn; Singo, Kehrer, Salisu, Vanderson (Mawissa, min.88); Camara (Golovin, min.46), Zakaria; Akliouche, Minamino (Balogun, min.69), Ben Seghir (Henrique, min.69); y Embolo (Lenin, min.59).
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Cubarsí (Ferran Torres, min.80), Iñigo Martínez, Balde (Ansu Fati, min.88); Casadó, Eric Garcia; Lamine Yamal (Gerard Martín, min.80), Pedri (Pablo Torre, min.83), Raphinha; and Lewandowski (Sergi Domínguez, min.80).
–GOALS.
1-0. Min.16, Akliouche.
1-1. Min.28, Lamine Yamal.
2-1. Min.71, Ilenikhena.
–REFEREE: Allard Lindhout (NED). He booked Ben Seghir (min.30), Camara (min.36), Zakaria (min.90+2) and Balogun (min.90+6) for Monaco and Iñigo Martínez (min.75), Balde (min.85) and Casadó (min.85) for FC Barcelona. He sent off Eric Garcia (min.11) for FC Barcelona.
–ESTADIO: Stade Louis II.