Barcelona's Shocking Collapse: What Their Devastating Loss to PSG Reveals About the Club's Crisis
Barcelona stumbled in their initial major challenge of the campaign, as defending Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain arrived at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and defeated the Catalan club 2–1.
Ferran Torres put Barcelona ahead with a first-half goal. Subsequently, a swift advance from Nuno Mendes created Senny Mayulu's leveling strike for the away team before the interval.
Luis Enrique's squad proceeded to assert their dominance following the restart. PSG proved significantly superior and Gonçalo Ramos entered as a substitute to net a well-earned victory goal in the 90th minute.
Hansi Flick appeared visibly furious following PSG's decisive goal. Suffering defeat against a PSG team missing Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, João Neves and Marquinhos serves as an early cautionary signal for Barcelona's continental ambitions.
Barcelona Continue to Face Significant Defensive Problems
Should Barcelona aspire to be genuine contenders in Europe this campaign, substantial defensive enhancement is required.
Flick's team excels at applying pressure in advanced positions and regaining possession in the opponent's territory. Nevertheless, when rivals bypass the press, as PSG accomplished repeatedly, compelling Barcelona to defend while retreating toward their own goal, the squad's vulnerability becomes glaringly apparent.
Creating threats against Barcelona requires nothing more than attacking their defense directly, as Nuno Mendes demonstrated for PSG's opening goal. Barça's central defenders perform optimally when defending while advancing, but the entire backline appears uncomfortable and disorganized when retreating.
PSG's winning goal exploited Barcelona's elevated defensive line. Once more, when tracking back, there appears to be a general communication breakdown that consistently leaves opposing attackers completely unguarded. Gonçalo Ramos's strike bore strong resemblance to numerous goals Flick's team surrendered last season.
Pau Cubarsí, Eric García, Ronald Araújo and Andreas Christensen have all received considerable playing time this campaign. The continuous rotation of personnel demonstrates that Flick remains unsettled with his defensive setup.
Currently, Barcelona represent a team that permits limited scoring chances, but those they do concede are high-quality opportunities. Against Europe's and Spain's elite clubs, this could prove Barça's undoing this season.
Flick must discover a solution to this obvious problem, one that persisted last season but deteriorated following Iñigo Martínez's departure.
Important Barcelona Players Appear Fatigued
Several Barcelona players appeared progressively exhausted as the match progressed, leading to PSG completely controlling the second 45 minutes.
Pedri, specifically, seemed unable to match the pace at which the game was unfolding. The midfielder has featured in every match this season thus far, yet has been withdrawn in each of the last four contests, displaying obvious fatigue symptoms as he exits the field.
Lamine Yamal made his first start in over a month. Following an encouraging opening half where he posed Barça's greatest threat, he was effectively neutralized after the break. Yamal failed to create meaningful opportunities in the second period and frequently found himself retreating defensively, enabling PSG to circumvent Barça's pressing game.
Frenkie de Jong, Jules Koundé and García also seem to be experiencing physical difficulties in the latter stages of matches, with García even departing the PSG encounter after apparently suffering muscle cramps.
A lengthy season remains ahead, yet Barça players already appear to be battling fitness concerns. This evening, PSG capitalized and outran Barcelona across the pitch. The extent to which an undermanned PSG controlled Barcelona in the second half cannot be emphasized enough.
Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres Provide the Positives
During an evening offering limited encouragement for Barcelona, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford persist in demonstrating their worth as attacking options.
Torres relentlessly harassed PSG's defensive line throughout the match and regained possession on multiple occasions. His link-up play reached its highest standard since transitioning to the striker role, and his display was capped by netting his fifth goal of the season, leading all Barcelona scorers.
Marcus Rashford appears increasingly settled in Flick's tactical approach with each successive match. The Manchester United loan signing recorded his third assist in three consecutive games and now boasts six goal contributions in six appearances for Barça since the September international window.
With Raphinha and Fermín López sidelined through injury and Dani Olmo performing well below his usual standards, Torres and Rashford have risen to the occasion and demonstrated to Flick their capability as meaningful attacking contributors.