Barcelona were defeated by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League clash on Wednesday, which was also their first defeat of the season. A late winner from Goncalo Ramos sealed the fate of the Catalans, who had led early on when Ferran Torres scored, before it was cancelled out by Senny Mayulu’s strike before half time.
As per Marca, head coach Hansi Flick gave his thoughts on the encounter, as he admitted that his side deserved to end up with zero points.
“The first half we played much better than the second. We conceded too much because we were tired. The truth is that PSG are a great team, they have very young and very fast players and they played a fantastic game. We didn’t play at our best level and against an opponent like that when it’s necessary. They deserved the victory.
“Of course we are disappointed. When you defend at 1-1, you have to play more intelligently at the end of the game and this has not happened. In transition, they have marked us. We have to be more structured and cover all spaces. You have to hold out for 90 minutes, the whole team has to defend, attack, be at a high level with the ball, take advantage of spaces, participate in possession. At PSG you saw that everyone knows how to take advantage of spaces, they want the ball… these are things to learn and improve.”
Flick admits tiredness played a part for Barcelona
Flick withdrew Pedri earlier than usual against PSG, and post-match, he admitted that the 22-year-old was one of several players that were struggling with fatigue.
“I think in the second half you could see that some players were very tired, like Pedri and Frenkie. But they all gave their best on the pitch. Pedri and Frenkie have played a lot of minutes. It’s important that they’re fresh but the important thing is the team.”
The problem is Flick and this stupid obsession with playing a high defensive line.It gives too much space against the top teams.
Barcelona was in the game only a few minutes in the first half. The rest of the match was extremely painful. And PSG had a lot of missing players.
Barca also missed Raphinha, Joan Garcia and mostly Yamal, after the 15th minute.
Barca played in 10 men in the second half, Yamal actually played for PSG. And that felt so much in the fitness of his colleagues.
The were tired from the first half.
Again they sh!t on the advantage and have no idea how to defense or to defense a result in the end of the match. They were much worse than against Inter last season.
PSG is way better right now, have better attackers, much much better defensive and GK. Way better fitness. Way better technique. Was 100% better.
Actually, Barcelona looked terribile for 75 minutes.
What else to say. Everything was very poor in Barca’s team.
💯 Exactly Well said
There is so much to learn. Places to improve on Barcelona was terrible in that match. Imagine Psg’s full attack against that defence. we will be 5 down