If one expected Barcelona to cruise past last-placed Almeria on Wednesday night, one could not have been more mistaken. As they rightly say, the concept of favourites in football is a myth and last night’s clash was the perfect testament.
For large parts of the game last night, Almeria fought neck to neck with Barcelona. They defended deep and kept the Catalans’ attack at bay until Raphinha opened the scoring midway through the first half.
A well-orchestrated counter and a solid strike from Leo Baptistao, however, handed the visitors an equaliser in the first half.
Barcelona took the lead for the second time on the night close to the hour mark through Sergi Roberto only to be equalled again by a rookie error in defence. The eventual winner arrived only in the 83rd minute, once again via the first-team captain.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 3-2 Almeria.
Ronald Araujo’s howler
Ronald Araujo has earned his right as one of Barcelona’s first-team captains. The Uruguayan defender has been one of the team’s most consistent performers in recent years and his ascendancy to the elite is second to none.
Such is the defender’s quality that he is rarely associated with a poor game or a match-defining error. That is what makes Wednesday’s game shocking, for Araujo was one of Barcelona’s worst performers on the night.
Coming up against bottom-placed Almeria, the Uruguayan never really looked to be in his element. His distribution may have been decent but his reading of the game was significantly poorer than his usual standards.
Araujo’s direct errors in positioning and judgement gave rise to many a chance for Almeria on the break. He lost possession a staggering ten times on the night and was directly responsible for both of Almeria’s goals.
The centre-back’s slack positioning put Leo Baptistao onside for the team’s first equaliser in a move where the Almeria striker should have been offside on nine out of ten occasions.
For the visitors’ second equaliser, he directly collided with Inaki Pena when the latter was collecting the ball from a free-kick. The goalkeeper spilt the ball as a result and paved the way for the second equaliser.
Thank you, Sergi Roberto
There was a lot of pressure on Xavi and the Barcelona forwards heading into the midweek clash. The team’s finishing deficiency has been a glaring issue for months now but has blown up in the media only in recent weeks.
Yet, nothing improved in terms of finishing last night. The Catalans suffered to put the ball in the back of the net despite creating a staggering five big chances with Robert Lewandowski looking uninspired once again.
Raphinha and Sergi Roberto were the two stars for the Azulgranas last night. The former created a stunning seven key passes and pumped chance after chance, but it was the latter who struck gold in front of goal when it was needed most.
Roberto gave Barcelona the lead in the 60th minute with a well-directed header past Luis Maximiano from a complicated angle. In the 83rd minute, he once again gave his side the match-winning goal with a calm and composed finish in front of goal.
The first team captain led from the front against Almeria, and it is admirable to see how he has channelled the negativity around him into a much-needed push.
A shabby win, but much-needed
Having suffered two straight losses at the hands of Girona and Royal Antwerp followed by an uninspiring draw against Valencia, Barcelona were staring at one of their worst periods in recent times in the eye.
Last night’s result thus brings a mixed reaction to the table, although largely positive. Xavi’s men needed to break their rut and score three points in La Liga to stay remotely in the race. The win may have been shabby with a poor first half, but it is a win regardless.
The flipside, however, is that Barcelona were playing against the league’s most underperforming side last night. To struggle to that extent and battle neck to neck against a side in such jeopardy will indeed create doubts in the minds of players and the manager.
Luckily enough, the Christmas break is upon us and will give Barcelona enough time to recover, recuperate and regroup.
