Barcelona 3 PSG 1 | Top of the Group for 8th consecutive time
23:20
Barcelona finally won a big match under Luis Enrique and that was enough to top the group for 8th consecutive time. When the lineups were announced, it looked like 3-4-3, yet another experiment by our tinkerer, Luis Enrique. Our experience with new lineups hasn't been tasty in the recent times. But for a change, the system worked this time. It worked because it extracted the maximum potential out of the players. As we know, Suarez is very good at receiving long passes and creating a chance/score a goal. His goal against New Castle united is a very good example. What's the use of all those abilities/skills if we won't use it? That's what was missing in the previous games, but this time Mascherano believed in Suarez's abilities, so he sent a long pass which he wouldn't have done normally. Suarez cleverly found the space inside the box, and sent a perfect pass to Messi for the equalizer. It was a sort of goal which we wouldn't normally score, but I'd say that's the sort of goals you should score when you have Suarez at your disposal. We continued to be fragile at the back and it required some last ditch tackles by Pique and Mathieu, but that's always the case with us. Deal with it.
There was a familiar approach. We tried to keep the ball as much as possible and PSG tried to hit us on the break. It was good to see Neymar stepping up and scoring a goal from nowhere. In the past games, it has been just Messi, Messi and Messi. We require all of our front 3 to score and assist if we want to go ahead in CL. We continued to be a mess at the back. There were many occasions when they could have equalized, thanks to the last ditch tackles. At one moment, the TV commentator said, "It looks like Pique got his defensive reflexes back". The game was wide open until that Verratti's substitution. It was weird . He was their best player on the pitch. Xavi, Rakitic eventually came on for Iniesta and Pedro respectively. PSG had given up. We were in total control of the match. Suarez scored the third goal after a superb play by Messi,Xavi,Neymar and Suarez to complete the phrase 'Show No Mercy'.(Suarez, Neymar and Messi).
Suarez, Neymar and Messi all scored a goal each.
Blanc said after the match," Barca's system wasn't decisive, the players were".
I refrain from commenting about the effectiveness of the system now because its time to celebrate the win and not to moan as it sucks the joy out of the win.Yes, they had lot of chances,but I'd say, the system worked because we won. I would have written a different report if we had lost. That's the reality of the game.Being decisive means being effective. At the end, we were effective and we took our chances. Be happy that the team won, because at the end, it's the only thing that matters.
This entry was posted by Kishore Katarki
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