The good, the bad and the ugly as Barcelona beat Celta ahead of Napoli clash
Celta Vigo 1-2 Barcelona - La Liga
After inexplicably drawing 3-3 with Granada a week ago, Barcelona won away to Celta Vigo with a last minute penalty!
It was a deserved victory for the Blaugrana who have now claimed a league-high 24 points from goals after the 76th minute. A true champions mentality from the defending champions. It’s just a shame about everything before the 76th minute!
Well, not everything. That’s an exaggeration. This wasn’t a bad performance. Or, maybe it was? Xavi doesn’t think so, saying that we saw “a good Barça,” at Balaidos.
But Pedri disagrees, admitting they didn’t play well in his post-match interview.
“We have to be self-critical. It wasn't a good game.” — Pedri
So, who’s right? Let’s get into it.
The Good: Lewangoalski
Unsurprisingly, the threat of having his place yoinked by an 18 year-old has motivated Robert Lewandowski to actually play with the precision of a world-class striker instead of a shambling hollow from Dark Souls.
The Polish striker is warming up for the Champions League clash with Napoli in good style, having now scored four in goals in his last three games. Strikes against Alaves and Granada were followed up by his brace away to Celta.
Lewandowski now has 12 goals this season, which is still underperforming his league-high xG of 14.6 — he is also the only player with a double-digit npxG (non-penalty expected goals) of 12.2, which he also underperforms as he has 9 non-penalty goals.
No one else in La Liga’s top 10 goalscorers is even underperforming their xG, nevermind to such a ridiculously large degree. For all of their defensive woes; if Lewandowski had been at his usual level all season, Barcelona would be in the thick of the title race instead of 7-10 points off Real Madrid like they are.
But still, they say it’s not how you start but how you finish. And if Lewandowski can find his actual form now Vitor Roque might snatch his spot if he doesn’t, Barcelona could still grab some silverware this season. Or at least not embarrass themselves.
His first goal against Celta was a delicious strike, vintage Lewandowski. His first-touch from Lamine Yamal’s pass was exquisite and set him up to perfectly thunder the ball home into the far corner and give Barcelona a deserved late lead.
His second goal was a penalty, which at first he messed up with a faulty stuttered run-up. Luckily for him the Celta goalkeeper was off his line and VAR ordered a re-take. Impressively, Lewandowski didn’t alter his technique, did the same stutter and even went the same way, just this time arrowing it low into the corner beyond Guaita.
A clutch penalty from Lewandowski, and the kind of massive game-winner that will send him into the Napoli tie full of confidence. He is still not playing well, per se, the difference in movement between him and Vitor Roque at Balaidos was ridiculously stark even with the Brazilian playing left-wing. The Pole is so much less dynamic than he used to be. But at the very least he is once again scoring goals.
And he has a point to prove here, with Napoli being one of the few sides he’s faced and never scored against. He last played the Italian side a decade ago with Borussia Dortmund, failing to score in two group stage matches. Can he change that now he’s a veteran with Barcelona and in decent goalscoring form? Xavi will be hoping so!
The Bad: Defending (without Araujo)
For the first-half of the game at Balaidos, Barcelona handled Celta Vigo with relative ease. There were a couple of uncomfortable transitions, but nothing too panicked.
Then Ronald Araujo went off at half-time (a precaution, insisted Xavi, so no need to break down into a cold sweat at the thought of Barcelona having to defend Napoli without their mighty Uruguayan) and things got notably worse.
“Araújo is OK. his exit is only a precaution.” — Xavi
Celta scoring about five seconds into the second-half was an early indication of just how much work Araujo has been doing at the heart of the Barcelona defence, especially given his partner is 17 year-old child Pau Cubarsi, his goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen is just back from injury, Jules Kounde still doesn’t look right after his spell on the sidelines last Autumn.
Iñigo Martinez replaced Araujo at the interval, which meant Pau Cubarsi swapped from left centre-back to the right. The two had obviously not communicated this (Iñigo was cheeks out on the touchline seconds before the half kicked-off instead of talking to his young team-mate and co-ordinating with him) and it led to Iago Aspas being in a figurative mile of space to take his shot.
Okay, the shot only went in because it deflected off Kounde. And okay, Barcelona conceded a paltry 0.8 xG across the whole of the game. But they still let Celta get 13 shots off. They weren’t great shots because it was Celta, but Napoli are coming and Napoli aren’t Celta. They will score those chances.
If Araujo isn’t 100% for Napoli that will be exposed. And if he’s not fit enough to play? It’s going to be carnage. They can’t draft Jules Kounde into the middle because Joao Cancelo can’t move to play right-back because Alejandro Balde is out injured so the Portuguese has to play left-back. Moreover, they will need Kounde to be at his best on the right to handle the deliriously dynamic Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
“We can only hope he can be ready, but his presence is not certain. According to him and the medical staff, he’s nowhere near fully fit, he has some muscular issues.” — Walter Mazzarri on Victor Osimhen
Meanwhile, Pau Cubarsi is sensational with the ball and surprisingly powerful for his age without it, but he is not ready to handle an attack like Napoli’s without his burly protector (especially if Victor Osimhen is ready to play) and Iñigo Martinez is half-fit and also doesn’t have the experience of handling an attack like Napoli’s.
Andreas Christensen does, but the Dane has been drafted in to play defensive midfield. And while he’s hardly Busquets reborn in the role, he is good, and more than good his presence there means Ilkay Gundogan can play further forward.
The German has been languishing in a deeper role for most of the season, because Oriol Romeu has not been up to standard and also because Frenkie de Jong and Gavi linked their injuries together like some miserable daisy chain - but Christensen should liberate him while also being a more stable defensive presence (though good gravy do Barcelona ever miss Gavi - what a monstrous presence that kid had).
Anyway, all this to say that the defence needed Ronald Araujo in the second-half against Celta Vigo. And they will need Ronald Araujo against Napoli in the Champions League.
The Ugly: Wonky wingplay
If you, like many people, felt that Barcelona fans have long been spoiled brats complaining about even the most minor flaws in their attacking players because their paragon for consistency of performance is Lionel Messi aka the greatest freakin’ player of all-time, then you probably had a chuckle at yesterday’s display.
Not just yesterday, even. But every game since Joao Felix and Ferran Torres, both oft-criticised by Barcelona fans, have gone down with injury.
Now sure, Ferran and Felix were not world-class stars. They were both inconsistent, for different reasons, and seemed to each be one half of a world-class winger.
But they were good, occasionally even great! They were also actual presences out on the wing. And without them Xavi has had to juggle between playing four midfielders (not advisable given how Gavi’s injury has crippled his depth here) or, as today, starting Vitor Roque as a left-winger.
Vitor Roque is an 18 year-old Brazilian striker who joined the club a month ago. He’s been very bright in his substitute appearances, scoring twice in two games before his unfortunate suspension for the crime of not pulling out of a tackle quick enough.
Giving him his first start in left-wing was probably not a smart idea, but Xavi did it anyway! Predictably Vitor Roque struggled. He lacks the innate dribbling skill to thrive as a winger on the ball, and while his runs off the ball were great as always, he was making them from a strange position and so overthought his finishes - missing a couple of chances he would have otherwise taken. He was subbed off having made no impact and Xavi may well have messed with the confidence of his greatest impact sub, an atypical error in man-management from the Catalan coach.
The wings are so important to the way Barcelona attack, giving them width and penetration in the final third. And Barcelona’s wingplay has been scattershot this season. Pedri lamented how easy it was for Celta to defend Barcelona by simply sitting in a low block, and that is as much a function of their wonky wingplay as much as their sloppy structure in central midfield (although the biggest culprit is their poor finishing). For a team with historically iconic wingers, against Celta the left was a deadzone, and the right wasn’t exactly a problem-free area either!
“We have to improve a lot. All the opponents do is sit back in their 4-4-2 and it's very easy to defend against us.” — Pedri
Sure, Lamine Yamal put in another magnificent display, bagging the opening assist for Lewandowski and winning the penalty for Lewandowski and basically being the attacking spark for the team and looking like a young genius… but he’s 16 years-old!
Since returning from the Supercopa, where Xavi used him for a sensible 79 minutes in 2 matches, Lamine Yamal has played, no joke, 643 minutes of football across 7 matches. That’s five full 90 minutes, 89 minutes yesterday and a massive 104 minutes in the Copa del Rey clash against Athletic Club.
He’s 16 years-old. Sixteen.
Obviously what amounts to one month of hard work isn’t going to make or break this prodigy long-term, but it definitely sets a dangerous precedent that he can be played as though he were a full-grown adult.
He’s not. He’s 16. He has to be managed or he will break. Just look at Ansu Fati. Or Pedri. Or Gavi. Or Balde. All have suffered big injuries because of being overplayed.
What’s worse is knowing Lamine Yamal will start and probably play 90 minutes midweek against Napoli. It’s not bad, because he’s a genius and watching him is genuinely thrilling, but it’s ugly.
It’s ugly because we know where this kind of overplaying leads. No matter that he is absolutely good enough to play regularly, he is too young to play this regularly. 2,044 minutes should be his total for the entire season, not a figure he reaches before the Champions League knockout rounds have begun.
Okay, Raphinha has returned from injury at last and this should allow Lamine Yamal some rest, but just how much? El Prodigi has been clearly superior to the Brazilian all season, so you’re still not rotating in big games. And given both left-wingers are injured right now will there even be any rotation?
Lamine Yamal was a dominant force againt Celta Vigo. Just as he was aganst Granada and just as he has been against basically every opponent. He’s majestic and it’s going to be great fun watching him against Napoli under the Champions League lights.
But Xavi, please, give the kid some rest, for goodness sake!
Given that Gundogan was rested and will thus start in central midfield with Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen, Pedri will likely start on the left against Napoli in that false wing position — meaning Lamine Yamal on the right. Again.
We have our minds set on the Champions League now. I’m excited to see the level of commitment in the dressing room. — Xavi
Pedri and Lamine Yamal. The two brightest attacking talents Barcelona has seen in a long, long while. If any two kids could restore the quality of the Blaugrana’s wingplay, it’ll be these two — even if technically Pedri won’t actually be playing left-wing. The actual left-wing area will be filled by Joao Cancelo, the right-back playing left-back which in Barcelona’s system is actually left-wing.
Cancelo is imperious in attack and hilarious in defence. But if Pedri can get him the ball in good positions you’d expect he’ll be able to produce good crosses that could bolster Barcelona’s wingplay to a high enough level to hurt Napoli.
But if it’s as wonky and disjointed as it was against Celta Vigo? It could be another ugly night in Europe for the Blaugrana.