Rating Barca's performance in Boca Juniors loss based on 4 key factors

Barcelona have lost to Boca Juniors on penalties in the Maradona Cup after the regular time ended in a 1-1 draw. Here is how Xavi's men fared.

Tactics

Since it was a friendly, Xavi took advantage of it and gave a try to the fringe players. Here's what the starting line-up looked like.

Barcelona XI: Neto - Dani Alves, Garcia, Lenglet, Balde - Sanz, Puig, Coutinho - Jutgla, Demir, Dest.

Some of the tactical moves did not work at all. Yusuf Demir did a terrible job at centre-forward, losing too many balls and not making the needed runs. He was shifted to the right flank during the first half and subbed out before the start of the second.

Another questionable choice was Sergino Dest as the left winger, but that was perhaps because of the lack of a better option. The American was not necessarily terrible but did not impress either.

As for the game itself, Barca looked to control the ball and to create chances through positional play. After the 65th minute, the team looked out of steam and backed down. Eventually, they got punished for it.

Tactics score: 5/10

Defence

Barca did not allow scoring chances systematically, but they got caught on the counter a few times. The Argentines tried to disturb the defence mostly through long balls behind the defenders' backs, and it worked at least on two occasions.

However, both times Neto came out of his goal to stop the attacks, which he deserves to be praised for.

There were a few misplaced passes that caused danger, but Barca got away scot-free too.

The goals the Catalans conceded, though, was a very simple play down the flank with a cross into the box. Boca Juniors simply outclassed Bluagrana's defence which was made up of mostly youngsters at that point.

Defending score: 6/10

Barca finished the game with more shots than Boca, 14 vs 13 (5-3 on target), but we cannot say that many of them were dangerous.

Ferran Jutgla scored his goal with a powerful half-turn shot, but even that wasn't a clear-cut opportunity. Both Dest and Ilias Akhomach had decent chances to score, but their shots from a tight angle went into the side netting.

Perhaps the best chance Blaugrana created was Dani Alves pass into the box after a long ball from Riqui Puig. The fact that there was no striker in the right position to finish the move shows that Xavi's team still have to improve their teamwork.

Finishing score: 5/10

Team spirit

Although it was a friendly game, it was clear that the Barcelona players were hungry for the win at the start. The whole team was pushing high, trying to get the opening goal.

However, the Blaugranas could not keep up the same intensity for the whole game. In fact, after the 65th minute, they mostly gave up on the ball and looked to defend the score. It might not have been a crucial game, but this approach is not something you expect to see from Xavi.

Team spirit score: 4/10