Barca, who have conceded only seven goals after 21 La Liga games, have returned to European competition, only to find themselves in another civil war.
This season, 14 goals have been conceded in 7 European games, which is 6 times more than the average number of goals conceded per game in La Liga! Barca's defensive problems have always existed, but La Liga lacks wingers, and the speed of the strikers is far from that of European opponents, so Barca can always take advantage of their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
01. Xavi's tactical failure: Conde central defender exposes his flaws
A. Araujo failed to play to his value & Comte's poor athleticism
Xavi asked Araujo and Conde to change positions, and did this when playing Real Madrid, in order to directly intimidate the Brazilian winger, but this time Rashford went to the middle, Araujo failed to match, but let the declining athleticism of Conde, was successively impacted by Rashford and Westhorst.
Manchester United manager Ten Hag's tactical thinking is very targeted, in addition to avoiding Barca's scaring plan in the front, allowing Fred to quickly go up and down in midfield, pulling the side at any time, linking Sancho and Westhorst to form a power confrontation in the center circle and an advantage in the change of offensive and defensive rhythm.
United's first threatening attack at the start of the game was to catch Conde's turning and slow speed, as well as his general flaw in his secondary selection consciousness after Araujo's intimidation.
Marcus Rashford has the ball in the ribs, Contet does not go up, his advantages are good flexibility, agility in the first move, once the beginning is not followed, the subsequent will only be completely thrown away by the opponent. At the same time, Fred walked inside without the ball, and both Araujo and De Jong lacked vigilance.
Alonso's performance was actually not bad, this time it was Alba and Alonso's blocking that allowed Manchester United's consecutive shooting chances to be neutralized.
In particular, Fred made a big circle into the inside, which Barca's defenders at the close end did not notice, which was a problem.
Looking at United's attack this time, Alonso and Alba were limited by Marcus Rashford, so they stood relatively far back.
When B sends the ball straight, Conde must follow Westhorst, whose position clearly shows the position of his teammates and should protect behind him.
The problem is that Conde's centre-back is too weak to be the same as Araujo. He played central defender, Barca's rescue ability deteriorated, and once the opponent could get up to speed, the Barça defense began to leak.
Barca were able to keep their innocence in the first half and needed to praise goalkeeper ter Stegen, who made two life-saving saves.
It was bad that Conde couldn't keep up with Dutch centre-forward Westhorst this time, but the goalkeeper saved the defence.
b. Conde's shot is good: but it can't stand the press
Xavi's insistence on Conde was his biggest mistake in building the team (Conde was significantly better at right-back than centre-back, but that was certainly not Harvey's original intention).
He likes the Frenchman because he has a strong ability to drip the ball and direct the ball, which is conducive to attacking initiation. However, Conde's problem is that he often short-circuits when facing pressing, and his advantage is good flexibility, but strength and speed are declining, so it is easy to make mistakes once he is labeled.
Conde has won only 2 of his 6 one-on-one matches, and as a centre-back he has conceded 10 possessions, which is very scary.
Conde is really accurate with his straight ball when he is not under pressure. This pass is to Lewandowski, who moves Alba and Barca's attack accelerates instantly.
Not only straight stops, but also the quality of Conde's long passes diagonally, there were also several good works that went directly to Alba in this field.
The problem with Conde is that once the opponent presses tightly, he can easily move and deform.
This time seeing the opponent pounce, Conde turned back to goalkeeper ter Stegen, almost causing a mistake and sending a corner to the opponent.
At the same time, after one mistake, Comte's mentality is prone to fluctuations, and often makes consecutive mistakes. This time sandwiched by Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, only to be cut off when his pass to Araujo was followed by a counter-attack, and Conde could do too little.
Marcus Rashford's shot was of very high quality this time and thanks to Ter Stegen's high level of quality save.
02. Rafinha provides tactical value: the high error rate is compensated by counter-robbery
a. Dembele's injury lowers the upper limit, and the linkage between Ra and Ba is more integrated
As you can see from the statistics, Barca have 60% possession and the number of shots on goal is 18-18 draws.
Despite an 8-5 lead on target, United had a clear advantage in expected goals. It has to be said that the away team is faster in attack and defense, and the threat to Barca is greater.
Rafinha's individual is certainly much worse than Dembele's, and his strength lies in his defensive commitment and availability, as well as the integrity of the offensive end.
Rafinha's cut from the right to the inside is a hard effort, whether it is a cross to a ribbed teammate or a step of his own, the success rate is high, which is conducive to transferring the ball to Alba on the left.
However, because Barca have reduced one striker, if Rafinha cannot get back into the box, Alba can pass fewer contact points.
Coupled with the fact that Casey had defensive pressure and did not insert much forward into the box, Lewandowski was alone, and Alba's passing was easily limited.
Looking at the attack again, Alba finally found an opportunity to use his passing characteristics.
Garvey missed the ball from the spot, giving Lewandowski a chance to shoot, but it was parried by De Gea.
b. Rafinha of Passing Gonggong: A bit of luck
Rafinha had six shots on goal but the goal came from a cross. He was substituted in 83 minutes and conceded 23 possessions while contributing four steals.
Rafinha's corner kick was accurate, and when Conde and Araujo pushed forward, Alonso's tactics of running back were clearly arranged in Xavi's daily training.
Fred was a little sluggish in hesitating to follow Conde or protect the back spot, and was eventually broken by Alonso.
Trailing 2-1, Barca stepped up their attack. The team's routine had not yet begun, but this time Rafinha quickly crossed the ball directly into the bottom of the net and luckily equalized.
Rafinha's cross is actually quite characteristic, with fast ball speed and flat arc. It's just that Barça grabbed fewer people and failed to maximize the effect. This time the goal was somewhat lucky, and the previous few assists were also bad luck.
Another characteristic of Rafinha is that he can temporarily replace Lewandowski as a breakthrough arrow.
Barca had a few long passes in this game, and Rafinha was very threatening, whether it was a direct header from the defender this time or a few other long-range shots with the ball.
03. Barça defensive outsider: 6 times the percentage of goals conceded when leaving La Liga
a. As soon as the opponent picks up: Barça are in chaos at the back
In the second half, Barca and Manchester United both had 11 shots on goal, and Barca led 6-2 on target, but Manchester United expected to score 30% more goals than Barca.
As soon as the opponent's offensive and defensive conversion accelerated, Barça had holes in the back, which was a big problem. La Liga does not have fast attackers, leaving Barca with little exposure in the league on a daily basis.
Barca's first goal was conceded, the opponent's attack and defense switched quickly, Fred's value was reflected, and De Jong failed to realise that his position was terrible.
At the same time Rashford took speed from the flank and Alonso could not keep up with the opponent in speed.
Barca's forward pass was cut off at the back, and De Jong, as a back, had a really poor sense of crisis, and he let Fred take the ball so easily, which led to subsequent problems.
Alonso suffered from speed, but Marcus Rashford was still limited and it was a bit surprising to be able to score.
Of course, De Jong's responsibility for this goal is small, and it is understandable that he was beaten behind when switching in attack and defense as a back.
Alonso is equally not to be held accountable, Marcus Rashford's speed advantage is his characteristic, Alonso chasing back to limit the opponent's shot angle to a small angle, he has done the job he should do.
The main responsibility for conceding the goal can even be said to be the full responsibility of the goalkeeper. Ter Stegen made two crucial saves in the first half, but he couldn't be forgiven for dropping the ball through the near corner. If Marcus Rashford plays the upper corner, he can say that he shoots well, but the low ball hitting the bottom corner of the near end can directly attribute the goalkeeper's negligence.
Barca's second goal, Rafinha being passed by Marcus Rashford can be understood, firstly because of the latter's personal ability, and secondly, Rafinha is an attacking player after all.
The problem was Barca's defense in the middle, only Roberto was behind the opposing attacking player, but he suffered a loss of strength and was bounced by B Fei.
The biggest problem was that when Aaron Wan-Bissaka cut forward, neither De Jong nor Lewandowski noticed that if one of them followed a step, B-fee's pass would be cleared. The back point Kong De is also behind, and at the same time suffers a loss of strength, and he swings his own oolong in a panic.
b. Who took advantage of the referee? Manchester United evaded the penalty, Barca dodged the red card
In European competitions this season, Barca have suffered a lot in the issue of refereeing. From away to Bayern, where Dembele was brought down by Davies but ignored, to away to Inter, where the goal was blown and Dumfries' obvious handball escape.
After 2-2, Roberto's header from inside the box hit Fred's open arm, and neither the referee nor the VAR said it, which would make many fans regret and dissatisfaction.
After all, Fred had his arms open this time, and according to the rules, even if he did it unintentionally, it was indeed a penalty.
Another point of contention was Marcus Rashford's counter-attack, with Conde committing a foul behind his back, causing the former to be brought down outside the box and then fall into the box.
The referee did not say that if it were stricter, it might give a red card + a penalty for a free kick outside the box.
c. The use of Alonso is not Xavi's fault
Many fans were very unhappy with Xavi's starting Alonso in this game, but to be fair, Alonso, who scored the team's first goal, actually did not have many problems on the defensive end. In the first goal, he was the best defensive player compared to ter Stegen and De Jong.
After Andreas Christensen appeared, De Jong repeated his old skills, giving a chance to restore the scene and do it again. Compared to Alonso following Marcus Rashford to push him to the outside, Christensen's choice is a bit poor.
De Jong's mispass gave United a chance to counter-attack. This kick came straight at the ball, and Christensen wanted to intercept it directly, but it gave Rashford too much space.
Sometimes the performance of the defensive end of the game will be evaluated very differently because of the quality of the shots of the opposing forwards.
Alonso's recovery was actually not bad, but this time Rashford faced a huge room for adjustment, but directly kicked away, but let Barca's mistakes in defense will not be remembered by fans.
Conclusion:
In the second leg, Pedri, Garvey and Dembele will all be unavailable. At the same time, Pedri's injury will make Barca have to consider returning to 433 when they return to the league.
Barca's loss in this game is not small, and if the defensive problem is not solved, then even next season, the team will be a civil war insider and a European layman.