As has been the norm this season, Barcelona’s win over Las Palmas on Thursday night did not come without twists. The Catalans routinely conceded first on the night, spending the rest of the 75 minutes chasing a winner and a comeback.
Ex-Barcelona player Munir El Haddadi gave Garcia Pimienta’s side the early lead in the first half after atrocious defending and goalkeeping from the Blaugranas. Xavi’s men were lucky not to fall further behind, for the Canary Islanders had no dearth of chances.
The eventual equaliser came from Ferran Torres ten minutes after the break while a late Ilkay Gundogan strike from the spot secured the comeback win.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Las Palmas 1-2 Barcelona.
New year, same Barcelona
Barcelona’s first game of 2024 was expected to be the turning of a fresh leaf in the Catalans’ story. As the defending champions of La Liga, there was a lot of expectation around the Blaugranas that they failed to live up to in recent months.
December, in many ways, represented the team’s lowest point all season. Barcelona did indeed beat Porto and Atletico Madrid in the final months of the year, but their subsequent performances against Girona, Royal Antwerp, and Valencia only saw them get progressively poorer.
Xavi thus hoped that the Christmas break, the only non-international break-related hiatus, would give his players time to recover and regroup ahead of a gruelling schedule. The team’s performance last night suggested otherwise.
Playing for the first time after the break, Barcelona appeared equally as dysfunctional as they have all season. The first half display, in particular, was shambolic.
The newly promoted Las Palmas piled the pressure on the visitors and maintained it throughout the opening 45 minutes despite having less of the ball to show. In 45 minutes, they recorded an xG of close to 0.5 compared to Barcelona’s mere 0.27. They also had one big chance and hit the woodwork once.
Barcelona’s defensive lock was picked with ease by the Canary Islanders as they looked to exploit the gaps between the centre-backs to thread through balls. The midfield, for large parts, was outrun and the forward department’s struggles in front of goal only went on.
Saved by a hair’s breadth
Nine out of ten times, Barcelona do not win the game against Las Palmas with a performance like the one they dished out. Their second-half showing displayed more promise, with chances coming aplenty, but the team’s haphazard finishing once again stood out.
The timeline says it all. The game was all balanced even at the end of regulation time, with Barcelona unable to find inroads beyond Valles. Only a late sending-off and subsequent penalty gifted the Catalans all three points on the night.
Barcelona were thus saved by a hair’s breadth. They were not far away from falling ten points behind the league leaders, a position that would virtually have them out of contention for the league title at the halfway mark.
The team’s next two games – in the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup respectively – are both knockout matches. With the players still far from their best and a clear deficit in cohesion on the field, one would not bet highly on Barcelona’s chances on either front.
Roque’s first dance
Vitor Roque’s debut was far from the dream debut. He came on late in the game and was not involved as much as he would have wished to be. Yet, there was an element of energy about him that changed the texture of the game.
The Brazilian phenom came onto the field for just 12 minutes on the night, replacing Ferran Torres towards the end of the game. In that short duration, he accumulated an xG of over 1, close to half of what Barcelona created all night.
He missed two big chances to score on his debut. A minute after coming on, he almost stole the ball from Las Palmas’ backline but failed to bundle it over the line. After Gundogan’s winner, he was presented with a golden chance and an empty net at his begging, yet put the ball painfully wide.
From a statistical standpoint, he was one of Barcelona’s worst players on the night after missing two golden chances. Yet, there is good reason to praise his game as he showed certain attributes the club has lacked for a long time now.
Throughout his cameo, Roque constantly threatened to make runs behind the back and get into scoring positions – something Robert Lewandowski has failed to show for a while now. The very fact that Tigrinho created a threat in his twelve minutes on the field is a reason to rejoice for Xavi.
The coming games could see more of Roque playing centrally. Could the youngster really be an immediate fix for Barcelona’s problems in the final third? Only time will tell.