Barca's biggest weakness in Super Cup defeat shown in lineup — anyone could exploit it
Barcelona slumped to a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday.
That defeat was down to many reasons, mostly tactical from the technical bench led by Xavi and a disaster class from Barca's defence.
Xavi set up his team to match Real Madrid in midfield by starting four midfielders – Pedri, Sergi Roberto, Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie De Jong.
In defence, Barca's main protagonists all started, with Balde at left back supported by the trio of Christensen, Araujo and Kounde, from left to right.
Xavi must've told his team to keep a high line against Vinicius and Rodrygo - Real's two forwards on the day. But the boys probably slept and forgot how to set an offside trap or how to run like hell and keep up when it's broken.
In one split moment, Bellingham set Viniicus on the move after he had bamboozled Kounde with his movement. The 23-year-old went one-on-one with Pena and rounded the young goalie to open the scoring.
Barca's defensive highline was again caught napping less than 10 minutes after that. This time they shockingly tried to set an offside trap for Rodrygo who was still in his own half.
The Brazilian simply ran through to find his strike partner for 2-0.
Some Barca fans might be wondering why there was no offside here. Sorry, you can't be offside if you receive the ball in your own half as Rodrygo did. And Vini certainly couldn't be offside since he was behind the ball.
Barca continued to make a meal of things in defence and could've conceded more goals in that first half. In the end, they allowed just one more, with Vini completing his hat-trick via the penalty spot.
The fact is, with the way Barca were set up in defence anyone could've exploited it. We've seen Girona and even Las Palmas do it this season. A team as ruthless as Madrid was always going to cause greater damage when allowed such open doors.
Here's a lineup that shows Barca's weakest points on the pitch. You could've guessed it:
Henry
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