Stats pic taken from u/ExtensionAbalone6580 post on the soccer subreddit.

I mean, I get some critical feedback and analysis, thats perfect imo. But to make claims like: We should sign some proper n.9 because Raphinha is not enough for UCL matches, or Gavi should be sold, or our defense should be replaced, or we shouldnt play with our playstyle in UCL and switch to more defensive playstyle, or Gordon is a flop for that price, or that PSG showed us class and why they are the best in the world and we need to learn from them everything... yeah all of those I read here and all of it came after *check notes* ONE LOST GAME. After ONE game.

I mean, jeez, are people really that short-sighted? We played AWAY against current UCL champions and we were close to tie this game and had lot of chances too (yes, PSG was better, but not that much better). We are clearly getting better year after year and thats it thanks to sticking to our playstyle. Arguing solely against it just because we lost one semifinal (in last minutes) and one quaterfinal against top teams in the world, who have same goal as us (to win UCL) is huge oversimplification of how football works, but thats another topic.

All I am saying is, to be more gratefull for what we have right now and trust the process of someone who made it possible. We came from being complete losers in UCL and 2nd in La liga to one of the biggest contenders for winning UCL and dominating La liga and all of it mainly because noone in our managment isnt not a bit reactive like most of the fanbase are. I dont mean to not criticise, just, please dont judge everything based on one match.

Aston Villa fan in peace.. looking for advice about the home end

I'm travelling to Barcelona for our game in a couple of weeks and, unfortunately, haven't been able to get a ticket in the away end.

This could genuinely be a once in a lifetime experience, and I really want to see Villa play at Camp Nou in person. I'm considering buying a ticket in the home end, but I'm obviously conscious that this might cause issues.

I have absolutely no intention of causing a scene or celebrating if Villa score. I'd just keep my head down, enjoy the experience and respect the people around me.

For anyone who's been to games at Camp Nou, what are the chances of an away fan being refused entry if they have a valid ticket in the home end? I look stereotypically English, so I'm wondering whether that might make me stand out.

I'm also considering wearing a Barca scarf when entering the stadium, if that would make any difference.

Any advice would be massively appreciated

Yesterday's match showed us how important Frenkie is. His ball progression was heavily missed. Also he js one of the best when it comes to press resistance.

Also he would have done a better job than Bernal and Gavi. Because let's be honest Bernal has a long way to go and Gavi isn't the same guy anymore.

Frenkie along with Rodri and Pedri would truly be one of the best midfield three. His composure, IQ and his ability to slow down the tempo would have benefitted us yesterday.

Nonetheless hope to see more from our maestro.

Every time we get hit for 2, 3, or 4 goals against a top team, the match thread completely loses its mind. People immediately blame the defenders, act like our backline forgot how to play football overnight, or start questioning why Rodri and Pedri aren’t stopping every single counter.

The problem isn't individual quality. It's that Flick's high line is pure suicide against elite sides unless the defensive structure is 100% airtight. That 4-2 loss against PSG was literally the perfect case study.

Here’s the reality:

1. Flick's trap is a gamble against teams with actual brains

Against Osasuna or Getafe, setting your defensive line on the halfway line works. Their midfielders panic under pressure and hit blind clearances right into our offside trap.

Against elite teams, you just cannot do that. The second their midfield beats our front press, their playmaker gets half a second with their head up. You cannot hold a flat line on the halfway line when someone like Kvaratskhelia is timing his run into 40 meters of empty green grass. You’re asking to get killed.

1. Rodri isn’t a cheat code for 40 meters of empty space

Yes, we have Rodri. He’s the best anchor in the world, but he isn’t a track star. At City, Rodri looked unbeatable because Pep choked out games. The spaces were tight, the ball moved slowly, and Rodri only had to defend small 15-meter zones.

Under Flick, we play fast and direct. When we lose the ball, Rodri is suddenly stranded with an entire ocean of grass behind him. Expecting him or Pedri to sprint 40 meters backwards to catch an elite winger on the break is physically impossible.

1. The Gerard Martín disasterclass

I get why Flick is playing Martín next to Cubarsí right now because he’s a natural left-footer, so on paper, it gives the backline balance. But watching him defend space gives me anxiety. The guy turns like a cruise ship. He doesn't have the pace of a fullback, doesn't have the agility to jockey quick wingers, and the moment a top team presses him, he panics. He takes three slow touches, gets claustrophobic, and dumps a hospital ball back to the keeper.

Pairing him with Cubarsí makes zero sense. Cubarsí is a genius on the ball, but he’s not fast. If you put another slow defender next to him and then tell them both to camp on the center line, nobody is catching the runner when the trap fails.

1. Why Araújo and Koundé ended up looking washed

Araújo is a physical monster, but his instincts belong in a low block, not a synchronized offside trap. He’s a natural man-marker. The second a striker drops deep or fakes a run, Araújo tracks him a couple steps back. That one yard keeps the runner onside, breaks the line, and gives away an easy 1-on-1.

Koundé on the other hand is a center-back being asked to bomb down the right wing like prime Dani Alves. When a guy is running 60-meter sprints all game, his legs die by the 70th minute. He gets caught out of position, looks gassed, and then people call him lazy.

1. The PSG game literally proved this in real time

Look at what happened against PSG.

While Xavi Espart was on the pitch at right-back, we actually had a working system. Cancelo was playing left-back and could attack freely because Espart didn't overlap like a maniac. Espart played like an inverted third center-back. That meant our rest-defense was a solid back three of Martín, Cubarsí, and Espart, with Rodri sitting right in front of them. Kvaratskhelia couldn't just exploit open grass on PSG's left because Espart was sitting there, rested and positioned.

Then Espart gets injured, and Flick’s substitutions immediately broke the machine.

Balde comes on at left-back, Cancelo gets shifted to the right, and suddenly we have two ultra-offensive fullbacks flying forward. The back three completely vanished. Cancelo pushes high, and instantly PSG gets a simple ball played straight into the massive crater behind him. Kvaratskhelia gets an acre of space against a completely exposed, slow Martín, and we concede one of the easiest goals you'll ever see on the way to losing 4-2.

What we actually need to fix this

Forget buying another right-footed star like Saliba. Cubarsí owns that RCB spot for the next 10 years, and shifting him to LCB ruins his passing angles.

We only need two things to make Flick's system work without getting ripped apart:

Stop playing with two attacking fullbacks at the same time. When Balde or Cancelo plays on the left, the right-back must strictly stay back as a third center-back. Espart proved that role works.

Buy a real, fast, left-footed CB to replace Martín. We need an actual recovery monster with a brain. Someone like Micky van de Ven from Spurs or Castello Lukeba from Leipzig.

Give Cubarsí a rapid left-footed partner who can clean up mistakes, lock the right-back in place to keep a back three in possession, and we instantly stop conceding cheap goals against top sides.

PSG: Marquinhos - Out for weeks, Dembele - Out for weeks, Kvaratskhelia - Out for the Whole Season.

Fc Barca: Olmo - Out for weeks

Call it another coping mechanism if you want; I honestly don’t care. I’m just glad our players came out of this game without any major injuries, except for Olmo, who got injured in what was ultimately a group-stage match. Yes, the result matters, but it’s not worth risking our players’ fitness over a game that isn’t going to decide our season.

Hansi Flick seemed to understand that, making sure to take off Pedri and Raphinha and limit Rodri to just one half. You could see how intense this game was. Even PSG’s fully rested players were under so much strain that some suffered serious injuries.

I genuinely hope they recover quickly. I’m especially sad to hear that Kvaratskhelia is out for the season. I really like him as a player, and he has my best wishes. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Test carried out confirm that Dani Olmo is suffering from an injury to his left adductor muscle as a consequence of a collision with an opponent during the game against Paris Saint-Germain. 

The player is expected to be out for around a month.

Our problem against PSG in our match against them last year and last night's match was the same, we played a 4-2-3-1 against their 4-3-3.

Hansi Flick wanted to attack their defense with 4 players ( Lamine, Raphinha, Gordon and Fermín), that left us with only two players in midfield ( Pedri and Bernal) against their marvelous midfield of Vintinha, Ruiz and nevez.

Our front 4 were isolated, and the same thing for Pedri and Bernal, that why we had lots of missed passes and a lot of lost possession.

We need to play with 3 midfielders if we want to control the midfield, in these kind of games.

According to MARCA⁠, Mourinho’s complaints appear to have had an impact on the refereeing committee’s plans for Sunday’s Clásico. Hernández Hernández was reportedly the initial choice, but according to journalist Roberto Gómez, he will no longer be the referee, with the reasoning being that the committee doesn’t want to “give Mourinho ammunition.”

If this reporting is accurate, isn’t this a pretty worrying situation?

Managers are obviously entitled to criticize referees, and clubs should be able to raise legitimate concerns about officiating. But if publicly complaining about a referee can influence who gets appointed to the biggest match in Spanish football, what message does that send?
Does it mean that the manager who applies the most pressure gets a say in who officiates? What stops other clubs from adopting the same strategy whenever they dislike a potential appointment?

And the irony is that the whole point of an independent refereeing system should be to ensure that appointments are made on merit, without clubs or managers influencing the process.

To be clear, we don’t know the full reasoning behind the reported change, and Hernández Hernández’s appointment was not officially confirmed in the first place. But if the committee really changed its plans because of Mourinho’s public complaints, I think that’s worth discussing regardless.

This will be long post, with analysis on almost everything. This is my first time doing this.

We let the game slip from our hands after yamal's equalizer in 80th minute.

Joan is a gem kept us in the match for first half or else it would have been way worse.

To win Xavi espart should have been on that RB position till the end as last goal came from cancelo missing his man. And clearly cancelo should have been subbed while he was on yellow. This sub didn't make sense to me, but i guess hansi wanted to keep him for el clasico. He was the hidden diamond in this hell of a match.

Martin is good but clearly we need better to perform in this highline. He was gassed at the end that he couldn't close down on hakimi 1v1. But again we didn't have much options.

Cubarsi had a decent game all things considered.

Clearly more defensive depth is needed but we couldn't even use what we have due to injuries to Christensen, kounde, Eric being injured.

Pedri needs to start with either rodri or fdj when he is fit. Bernal isn't ready for such high stakes match. Felt like pedri alone was doing all the attack and tempo control from our side.

Rodri gavi also doesn't work against such intensity. Gavi can't control tempo and rodri isn't fast enough against such a team, how come vitinha is unmarked at the edge of the box to take a shot and convert it.

Raphinha had a decent game, expected him to be more clinical. But he did came off an injury.

Gordon should take more shots for himself, too much selflessness can hurt us. Our attack was creating that perfect goal instead of just taking the shots in the first half.

Olmo injured again but Fermin did play his part, decent game from him.

Bad first half from Yamal, tried to do too much and wasn't clinical with his passes let alone his shots. Off game from him tbh. Also he didn't get much of the ball in final third of first half as well. His pressing also felt off and not synergistic with raphinha and Gordon. And he got pocketed by Lucas Hernandez of all people. Great goal but it came off of the defenders mistake.

Clearly hansi was experimenting in this match as we didn't start rodri - pedri duo and we were limited with our defensive depth. Raphinha was just out of injury, bad start from Yamal and olmo getting injured early game.

But again even psg wasn't at full strength with nuno out, dembele and kvicha injured, ferran in the team. Still they managed the win because their substitutes worked.

We let the game slip from our hands after Yamal equalised, we were clearly better in second half. Our attackers weren't clinical. Our substitutes weren't on point but I will give benefit of the doubt as we have upcoming el clasico. Clearly we need more defensive depth, and offload one of the midfielders/balde to create the space.

Fdj becoming match fit is good sign for rotation in midfield and we can experiment more combinations.

We didn't win but we launched Xavi espart and he pocketed kvicha and doue. I hope he has the cubarsi/Yamal trajectory going forward and not the balde one.

We gave such a good fight that their well rested players couldn't handle the intensity, now they have kvicha/dembele/nuno injured (I am not hoping a player injury, just stating facts), I don't think psg can afford to do what they were able to do last 2 years, where they seal the league till December and play really well in UCL kos. Instead we have the chance to seal the league till Jan, win against RM, ATM and increase the gap that we can be comfortable in April, given that we have a defensive signing immediately.

Before some of you all come jump at me with takes that say 'oh you can prime maldini and it won't make a difference'.

Now yes the high line is suicidal, especially for our cbs... But that's not the reason why.

The reason why is because we have no rotation to begin with. We had 4 players who can play cb, 1 that is constantly injured and the other 3 play non stop.

We don't have enough rotation and frankly idk why Alvaro cortes was left out??? We need more depth and it shows badly.

It doesn't have to be an ultra expensive signing like Gabriel Magalhães but for crying out loud just how many times will this board see to it???

The idea is, rotation. We need players or a player who can play fine in ucl games and let the others rest. Ofc not by psg's standards, but to give our defensive players some form of rest...

As for the RB position, espart today showed so much promise, so for now I say we just give him time to grow and develop.

Translation by DeepL:

Rodri set to start on the bench against PSG, according to Onda Cero

Alfredo Martínez reports that Flick will rest the midfielder in Paris, a decision that opens the door for Marc Bernal to play as a holding midfielder and also leaves Frenkie de Jong among the options for reshaping the midfield

Hansi Flick could make a significant change tonight against Paris Saint-Germain. According to journalist Alfredo Martínez on Onda Cero, Rodri Hernández is set to be rested and start the match on the bench, despite recent reports suggesting the Spanish international would start alongside Pedri. The German manager must manage his squad’s workload during a particularly demanding week, with El Clásico against Real Madrid scheduled for Sunday, whilst the accumulation of defensive absences is also influencing his decisions.

Should Rodri’s rest be confirmed, Marc Bernal appears to be the most natural replacement to fill the holding midfield role. The academy graduate has been acting as the Madrid-born player’s main substitute this season, and Flick continues to look for opportunities to give him playing time. Another option would be Frenkie de Jong, now fit following his injury, although his recent return and lack of match fitness may initially favour Bernal. The Dutchman has also been tried out in a defensive role to cover for the absences of Koundé, Eric García and Christensen.

FT: Paris Saint-Germain 4 - 2 Barcelona

Desktop note: best viewed on old.reddit.

LINE-UPS

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3)

Barcelona (4-2-3-1)

MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN

17' 🟨 João Cancelo (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

20' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Ferran Torres replaces Ousmane Dembélé because of an injury.

27' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Fermín López replaces Dani Olmo because of an injury.

38' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 1, Barcelona 0. Désiré Doué (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by João Neves with a headed pass.

55' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 1, Barcelona 1. Xavi Espart (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Fermín López with a through ball.

59' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Illia Zabarnyi replaces Marquinhos because of an injury.

59' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Maghnes Akliouche replaces Khvicha Kvaratskhelia because of an injury.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Karim Adeyemi replaces Raphinha.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Gavi replaces Pedri.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Rodri replaces Marc Bernal.

72' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 2, Barcelona 1. Lucas Hernández (Paris Saint Germain) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Désiré Doué with a cross following a corner.

74' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Alejandro Balde replaces Xavi Espart.

78' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Warren Zaïre-Emery replaces Lucas Hernández.

78' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Senny Mayulu replaces Désiré Doué.

79' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 2, Barcelona 2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the top right corner.

81' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 3, Barcelona 2. Vitinha (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.

86' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 4, Barcelona 2. Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Achraf Hakimi.

MATCH STATS

MATCH ENDED

FT: Paris Saint-Germain 4 - 2 Barcelona

Desktop note: best viewed on old.reddit.

LINE-UPS

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3)

Barcelona (4-2-3-1)

MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN

17' 🟨 João Cancelo (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

20' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Ferran Torres replaces Ousmane Dembélé because of an injury.

27' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Fermín López replaces Dani Olmo because of an injury.

38' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 1, Barcelona 0. Désiré Doué (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by João Neves with a headed pass.

55' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 1, Barcelona 1. Xavi Espart (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Fermín López with a through ball.

59' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Illia Zabarnyi replaces Marquinhos because of an injury.

59' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Maghnes Akliouche replaces Khvicha Kvaratskhelia because of an injury.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Karim Adeyemi replaces Raphinha.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Gavi replaces Pedri.

60' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Rodri replaces Marc Bernal.

72' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 2, Barcelona 1. Lucas Hernández (Paris Saint Germain) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Désiré Doué with a cross following a corner.

74' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Alejandro Balde replaces Xavi Espart.

78' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Warren Zaïre-Emery replaces Lucas Hernández.

78' 🔄 Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Senny Mayulu replaces Désiré Doué.

79' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 2, Barcelona 2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the top right corner.

81' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 3, Barcelona 2. Vitinha (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.

86' ⚽ Goal! Paris Saint Germain 4, Barcelona 2. Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Achraf Hakimi.

MATCH STATS

MATCH ENDED