Three takeaways from Athletic Club 0-1 Barcelona | La Liga MD27 | OneFootball

A Lamine Yamal stunner helped Barcelona seal a 1-0 win over Athletic Club de Bilbao last night in the Basque Country, taking them back four points clear in La Liga.

It was always going to be a critical game for Barcelona, given how it was nestled between their crucial Copa del Rey game against Atletico Madrid and the UEFA Champions League game against Newcastle United.

A lot of attention, needless to say, was given to the squad management on the night and whether or not Hansi Flick would manage to secure the three points without exhausting his star players.

In the end, the manager seemingly managed to ensure the same, although with the scoreline far tighter than initially expected.

Barça Universal brings you three takeaways from Athletic Club 0-1 Barcelona.

A win in second gear

Perhaps the single biggest takeaway from Barcelona’s win over Athletic Club last night was how they took all three points without the expenditure of as much energy as they would usually put into the game.

Joan Garcia’s performance was critical to Barcelona’s victory. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

The hectic schedule leaves the Catalans with little time between games, and it was always going to be crucial how they managed Saturday night’s game state given the difficult game midweek.

Moreover, with the Newcastle United game just days away, the Barcelona stars undoubtedly required some time with their foot off the gas and that was what they got last night.

The Blaugrana’s performance against Athletic Club may not have been a spectacle to behold, but it got the job done in second gear and intentionally so.

Neither did Barcelona press as they should, nor did they attack with as much intensity. What they did instead was secure the lead through a moment of brilliance and defend it until the end – something not traditionally associated with them but necessary at this point in time.

The right defensive template?

With Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde out through injury, it was always going to be interesting to see how Hansi Flick lines up his defence for the crucial clash against Ernesto Valverde.

After all, he will face the same absences in the department for at least a month and the game was thus going to provide an idea of the defensive plans in Flick’s mind.

In the end, the manager opted for one of the expected setups with Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin in central defence, Eric Garcia at right-back and Joao Cancelo at left-back.

Cubarsi and Martin, as they did midweek, held their ground with a solid performance and did not allow too many Athletic Club attacks into the Barcelona area. They held the offside trap well and showed good coordination between themselves.

Eric Garcia, starting at right-back, was rock solid defensively but left the game leaving a feeling that he could have done more in attack. He is indeed a defender by trade, but a lot more is expected from a full-back at Barcelona in terms of offensive contributions.

Joao Cancelo, on the other hand, faced a rather polar situation as he did chip in with decent attacking contributions but coupled that with a very poor defensive show.

The Portuguese star offered no cover at the back, misplayed passes and was constantly caught out of position by Athletic Club’s winger, leaving him exposed and as the weak link in defence.

The Catalans did indeed get away with a clean sheet, but it is clear that the new defensive template has its strengths and clear weaknesses. How Flick tweaks that setup against Newcastle United remains to be seen.

Misfiring attack

While a lot is deservedly said about Barcelona’s attack and the ruthlessness they present, it is clear that many of the forwards are not operating remotely close to the standards they are held against.

Ferran Torres’ goalscoring woes continue. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Last night’s game once again reiterated the same, and it is now developing into a full-blown problem for Hansi Flick that his team’s attack is misfiring.

Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres started alongside Lamine Yamal last night, and neither player looked up to the challenge of taking on goal-scoring responsibility.

The Englishman lacked any serious threat-creating ability, was indecisive with his buildup contributions and struggled to get anywhere close to goal.

Torres, meanwhile, has seemingly lost his goal-scoring sense and has looked like a shadow of his season-beginning version. Last night was more of the same as he looked lost, uninspired and struggled for any role of prominence.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski came on later in the game to replace the aforementioned duo, but they too could not create any serious threat in front of the goal.

They have largely been better than Rashford and Torres, respectively, but there is no denying that they are way off from their versions of last season.

At this point, Lamine Yamal is Barcelona’s only consistent goalscoring and chance-creating threat who can be relied on, and that dependency can never be good for a team at this point in the season.

There is, thus, an urgent need for Flick to turn matters around and address the attacking deficiencies. The business end of the season, after all, will need Barcelona’s attack to fire on all cylinders.