Lamine Yamal’s magic goes in vain as Barcelona’s calamitous defence proves costly against Club Brugge | OneFootball

Barcelona were held to a 3-3 draw against Club Brugge in the Champions League last night despite Lamine Yamal’s brilliance.

Nicolo Tresoldi put the visitors ahead inside six minutes after Barca botched their efforts to maintain a high line of defence.

Ferran Torres equalised quickly by nodding home Fermin Lopez’s cross, with Yamal playing an incisive pass in the build-up.

However, the hosts sliced through Barca’s defence with a devastating counterattack for Carlo Forbs’ goal in the 17th minute.

Yamal’s moment of inspiration after the second half restored parity for the visitors. He took on a host of defenders and then linked up with Lopez before placing his shot into the bottom left corner, as Brugge stood astounded. 

But the joy didn’t last long as Forbes capitalised on Barca’s catastrophic defending to complete his brace and put Brugge up front again.

Yamal saved Barca’s blushes as his strike took a huge deflection off Christos Tzolis to make it 3-3.

The evening could have gone much worse for the La Liga giants, but they had a penalty overturned by VAR and Romeo Vermant’s goal in the injury was chalked off for a foul.

Yamal produced his best performance of the season, but that was marred by Barca’s continuous defensive struggles.

The 18-year-old looked sharper than ever, creating five chances and completing a game-high five dribbles.

He will be one of the positives of the game, and the performance is another strong proof as he is starting to come into his own.

But the bigger picture remains Barca’s inconsistent results and their questionable collective performances.

Manager Hansi Flick will be under scrutiny again as the opponents continue to exploit Barca’s defensive frailties.

The German gaffer needs to fix the glaring issue soon to keep Barca’s title aspirations alive.Barca will be aiming to break their drought in the Champions League, but their fluctuating form raises a lot of questions.

They have registered two wins, a defeat and a draw in four games. The Catalan club may have to win the rest of their group stage games to secure automatic qualification to the Round of 16 and avoid play-offs.