‘It’s absolutely clear’… Journalist highlights a major problem for Barcelona following their recent defeat | OneFootball

For a team that has been widely praised for their quality this season, FC Barcelona were simply pathetic in their most recent game. With a clear lack of intensity and control, Hansi Flick’s side looked to be completely disoriented against Borussia Dortmund. Ultimately, it led to Barcelona losing their first game in 2025.

The German team was clearly the better side between the two during the second leg, and they deserved to win as they did. However, the poor performance from Barcelona certainly made things easier for them.

Even before the match, when the official starting line-up for the Catalan side was released, it was clear to see that Hansi Flick had made a few tweaks. One of the more major ones, however, included the fact that Pedri was not going to be starting this game.

Following the game, however, a certain journalist by the name of Julio Maldonado, who was on commentary duty for Cadena COPE during the game, highlighted what he thought one of Barça’s major problems was. As quoted by Mundo Deportivo, he initially highlighted just how poor this performance was from the Catalan side:

“It was a really poor match from Barça, clearly… they were much closer to a tragic night than it might seem.”

He further went on to speak about the lack of a clear alternative for Pedri, whose absence was clearly felt in this game:

“I think it’s absolutely clear that Barça has no real replacement for Pedri. This is a very clear problem and it could become a major issue for Barcelona.”

The journalist did say that Barcelona deserved to go through to the next round on the basis of their first leg display, but did criticize certain players who he believed were quite poor in this recent second leg that Hansi Flick’s team lost:

“Barcelona deserved to make the semifinals because of the four goals in the first leg, the second match was quite weak overall… Araujo was very poor, and this was probably the worst match I’ve seen from Lamine Yamal. Honestly, thank goodness they had that big lead.”

Fortunately for Barça, they managed to get through the tie and are now among the final four teams in the competition. However, this should not be a loss that they take lightly and Hansi Flick should already be working towards making sure it does not happen again.