Match Review : Osasuna vs Barcelona (4-2)

8 wins out of 8 matches to start a La Liga campaign?

Barca hasn’t done it in recent times, but they had a chance to change that with another win, this time against Osasuna away from home.

Let’s not waste any more time.

First half

To put it simply, the first half was a disaster for Barca.

They couldn’t progress into Osasuna’s final third, they were shaky defensively, and they looked out of sorts in all phases on the match. Now this wouldn’t have happened if Barca had played more of their regulars, since the regulars have completely destroyed La Liga competition so far this season.

But Hansi Flick decided to rest most of the regulars — for very good reason too, they needed rest — and instead slotted in more of the squad’s current “depth”.

I put depth in quotation marks because…well…the depth is just a bunch of children and some other squad reserves.

The starting xi Flick put out wasn’t equipped to handle the pressure cooker known as El Sadar, which is understandable considering just how inexperienced most of this team was.

For that reason, it was no surprise Barca conceded two goals and went into halftime down 2-0.

Granted, there was still hope if Barca made the correct subs and a few things fell their way. But this start was anything but positive and that spelled doom in a stadium as volatile as El Sadar.

Second half

Things got off to a better start in the second half when Pau Victor scored his first ever Barca goal. He took advantage of a mistake at the back from Osasuna and unleashed a long range shot that somehow made it into the back of the net.

Don’t know how that went in, but the important thing was that the game was on once again, and with Barca’s best attackers on the field now. Things were looking positive, at least until Alejandro Balde got caught napping as soon as he was subbed on.

His man breezed past him laid off a pass for a potential goal, but Sergi Dominguez committed a penalty in the process of trying to stop the opportunity from coming to fruition.

Osasuna converted that penalty, making it 3-1, then eventually scoring another to make it 4-1.

Lamine Yamal cut the deficit to 4-2 courtesy of a wonder goal.

But it was too little too late, as Barca lost 4-2 and dropped their first points of the La Liga season.

Final word

Obviously the main story here is Hansi Flick’s rotations. There were way too many of them and because of that, the balance was thrown off in such an important game.

Many will make the point that Flick could’ve rotated against Getafe instead of away at Osasuna, a club that was undefeated heading into this match. And while they may be right, it honestly felt like rotations were always going to be a risk anyways.

There still isn’t much squad depth right now because of the injury situation and only rotating a few players would compromise rest ahead of the Champions League, that being either against Getafe or Osasuna.

Quite honestly, I saw it as a lose-lose either way.

But what’s done is done and there’s nothing Barca can do about it now.

All eyes on the Champions League next.

Barca’s next match

Barca’s next match will be on Tuesday against Young Boys. It’ll be Barca’s second Champions Legaue fixture this season.

See you all then!

TreJean Watkins

I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!