FC Barcelona: A plethora of mistakes made but the realisation comes with them 

Tottenham Hotspur v FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur v FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League

The faces at Wanda Metropolitano lit up. Diego Costa had scored the opening goal in the 77th minute off a corner. Rafinha's strength wasn't enough, Ter Stegen's palm wasn't enough, and Diego Costa celebrated his goal after 9 long scoreless months in LaLiga.

Atletico could have just defended the lead. They successfully defended against the rampant Barcelona for 75 minutes. Then came Ousmane Dembele, oozing pace in the pitch, dragging the defence out of shape with a high tempo of play. The inevitable Lionel Messi assist came in as Dembele rolled the ball past Oblak. The Wanda stunned into silence, Diego Simeone is still winless against the Blaugrana in the LaLiga and a hard-earned point for the visitors.

Barcelona dropped two points yet again, lost their previous game, then should this season be considered a better one than the last one? For all we know, Barcelona almost went undefeated in the league in 2017-18 and lost only to Levante at matchday 37.

Then why is this season better? Johan Cruyff has said that football is a game of mistakes. The fewer mistakes you make the better. But what if your mistakes stay hidden? You would not mind rectifying it unless you find it serious.

Pep Guardiola went to his press conference after the Southampton game and said, " The team showed me that we are not stable enough". Manchester City had won 6-1. At best, somebody would say that the defence should have held better. Not Guardiola. The way he sees football, only a few people do.

Ernesto Valverde, with all due respect, is not as good as Guardiola. He managed at Athletic Bilbao prior to Barcelona and was given a leap from a mid-table team to a world-class team. Early in the 2017-18 season, Barcelona was given a thrashing by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. Valverde stabilised things but Barcelona made a lot of mistakes in their games. But it was hidden due to the fact that they kept winning.

Last year, a lot of times Valverde made substitutions that were defensive and played more for a draw than pushing for the win when trailing. There are many moments that are proof of this. The 2-1 win against Valencia, the 1-0 win against Atletico, the 2-2 draw against Sevilla, every one of these matches had mistakes. Barcelona did not win by asserting control over the game. But they did very well in the El Clasico and beat Madrid 3-0.

Messi was huge in the first El Clasico of last year's LaLiga
Messi was huge in the first El Clasico of last year's LaLiga

They were unbeaten. But they were given a wake-up call by Espanyol in the Copa Del Rey. Unfortunately, it was not a thing Barcelona took seriously and forgot since they still progressed. Mistakes kept coming and the coach kept overlooking them because the results were being yielded. Critics looked only at the result so they did not bother to look at the mistakes in spite of the win.

And then they went to Stamford Bridge and were schooled for 70 minutes by Willian. He gave several warnings prior to his goal and finally struck past Barcelona. If Barcelona had lost the game, they would have noticed their mistakes better. It was not to be, Lionel Messi struck past Chelsea for the first time in his career and got the crucial away goal. Barcelona left with the upper hand in the tie, satisfied. They thrashed Chelsea at home and went ahead.

But finally, they reached that night in Rome. The most dismal performance of the season for the Blaugrana and that was when their mistakes were exposed. It was not just a bad night but it was just a climax due to a streak of mediocre nights which were left unseen. The team came to the realisation of their mistakes at the biggest stage and it cost them dearly.

Barcelona's UCL hopes were destroyed by Roma
Barcelona's UCL hopes were destroyed by Roma

Defensive mentality, poor choice of lineups, defensive lapses, above everything not willing to attack, these things cost Barcelona last year's Champions League. To be honest, these occurred a lot of times in the league but Valverde failed to attend to it unlike a coach like Pep, who would have.

This season Barcelona has already been given a run for their money by teams. They had to sweat against Vallecano and Espanyol. They were beaten at their own game by Betis. Atletico Madrid made them sweat without much possession. Leganes humiliated them. It sounds a horrendous season already, doesn't it?

But in reality, this is much better. They are looking at their errors in the league and are trying to rectify them in the Champions League. They have had wake-up calls all around the season, almost in every one of their matches. But that is good. Now, Valverde should know what formation to use against which type of teams. He should know his squad and their limitations.

It was clear that against teams like Atletico Madrid yesterday, who tend to park the bus for the victory, you need somebody who can take long shots. Also, you need to have the pace at your wings and play with a high tempo. If you pass around and play possession with them, nothing would happen as their intention is to stay still near the box.

Against teams who press as Tottenham did in the Champions League, you need to play a proper possession game. This will help players find the spaces due to the press and open the play up. Same thing against Sevilla. You might also need the bit of physicality to tackle the ball retention policy of some teams.

Barcelona's style might not be crossing the ball but it is the best alternative to teams who park the bus. What else, the defensive problems are visible too. We now know that Barcelona is weak in defending against the high ball and tend to concede a lot off set pieces. Last season, defensive errors were present but it was hidden only due to the fact that they kept winning.

Now, look at Pique's performance yesterday with respect to the utter disgrace of the night he had at Leganes. That is an improvement. Even Sergi Roberto needs to do the same thing. Dembele kept losing possession a lot in the matches prior to yesterday's game. But what he did yesterday was commendable. Ran around, moved with intent, kept the ball with him and showcased his pace.

We have seen Valverde wait for too long to make substitutions when nothing happens. Hopefully, he will change that too. But what he did well against Atletico was take out Arthur and Vidal's possession play and replaced it with the pace and threat of Malcom and Dembele. It was a necessity. He is realising what is needed and needs to act accordingly.

Valverde seems to be making better choices
Valverde seems to be making better choices

Mistakes are painful. It was painful to lose against Betis and Leganes. You have to be humiliated. But you need to face the reality rather than the fantasies. The treble is a fantasy that people see when you are not losing even one game. It feels good. But a treble will only be the reality when we face the reality by suffering the pain of making mistakes.

That is why this season, I am more hopeful of silverware than I was last season. Winning is not the only thing that matters. Probably Sevilla will be top of the league by tomorrow. But the realisation and the action according to mistakes is what matters. A must-win encounter against Sevilla and Barcelona put the game out of their reach early in the 15th minute. Those 15 minutes, were better than almost the entire Champions League campaign last season, with the exception of the second-leg against Chelsea and the 3-0 win against Juventus.

Enough with mistakes guys now is the time to rectify them and come back stronger. These are small mistakes which could be rectified, not repetitive too unlike the ones Real Madrid is suffering from.

Hope the gaffer is seeing what we could see from home. Hope the realisations come sooner than later because the mistakes already have.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.