0:00 Barca had one of the greatest starts in their club's history. >> What can I say? I think that Barcelona right now is probably the best team with the best striker. If we talk about the depth in their squad. >> They were cooking everybody, goals left, right, and center. >> These guys are not number nines per se, and yet they find themselves in positions where they're going to go and finish chances. And more importantly, they're finishing the opportunities. This team right now, unstoppable. >> But then in the span of a week, they lost two of the biggest games in their season at that point. >> Barca's perfect bubble has been burst by Real Madrid with a 2-1 win. >> And all this praise about, you know, 10 wins in a row or whatever it is, and just putting away every team that comes along, you're going to put them away. Sort of gone now. >> So, what's the truth? Are Barca just guys that love to farm against the
0:47 lower-level La Liga teams and look good against lower-quality opposition and ghost in big games, or was it just a one-off bad week? Let's talk about it. What's funny is that I was looking back at previous results, and Barcelona last year during October also had a disastrous time. That was when they also lost to PSG, and that was PSG's, I think, third-tier team, by the way. They were missing a ton of key starters, and they got completely outplayed by them. And then at the end of that month, they lost El Clasico to Xavi Alonso's Real Madrid. Now, that situation was even worse because Barca were not at the top of the table. But this loss to Real Madrid felt worse. Maybe it was because
1:33 it was off the back of the loss against PSG, maybe because the fan base is tired of these lackluster performances in these bigger games. But despite Barca still being ahead by three points in the league, it felt very momentum-shifting. Now, I was going to make this video after the PSG game, but I thought I would wait. I don't want to make any reactionary takes, wanted to see how the game goes against Real Madrid, because maybe a lot of the stuff that I was going to say about the PSG game was going to age like milk if Barca ended up winning this fixture. Well, it turns out a lot of the issues in that PSG game reared its ugly head in El Clasico. Now, I'm going to talk about the PSG game later because I actually don't even think that loss is that shameful. Losing to the best team in the world in Europe is never a problem. I think everybody knows that PSG are the team to beat. They play beautiful football and if
2:19 anything El Clasico showed why these guys are the best because they just don't have these sloppy moments. But, the loss to Real Madrid was really a bad one, not just because of the rivalry, but because of the fact that the attack and the performance in general looked so toothless. >> And Barcelona actually looked, even though they lost to PSG in midweek, that was an end-to-end game, they actually looked frustrated tonight as that game went on. >> Again, I don't think there's any shame in losing to PSG, especially in an early Champions League game. I mean, if there's any club that can tell you that those games don't matter that much, it would be Paris Saint-Germain. They won back-to-back Champions Leagues while never directly qualifying to the knockout rounds from the top eight. So, an early stage Champions League loss is not that big of a deal. But, against Real Madrid, Barca had a chance to almost wrap up the league. I mean, I'm exaggerating a little bit because even
3:04 though it would have been a nine-point lead, there's still so much of the season left to play. Again, proven by the fact that Barca had a terrible October last year and they still ended up winning the Super Cup and the league when it came to May. That's how these seasons are. They're a marathon, not a sprint. As fans, as YouTubers, as creators, we like to do reactionary stuff to keep the storylines going, but the reality is that the season is won in May. Real Madrid found that out the hard way last year where they were celebrating the El Clasico win, they were six points ahead of the table, and you fast forward to the end of the season and they're still trophyless. But, the reason these two losses felt so momentum shifting was because a lot of the same issues that Barca fans have been complaining about for the past few seasons returned again. There has been a narrative that Barcelona are not good in big games, that they look great against the likes of Elche and Valencia.
3:49 Unfortunately, Valencia are a small club now, but as soon as they run into a big team, the high line, the good attacking performances, they just all go away. Now, part of it is people have to realize that Barca are not going to be able to score four or five goals against the likes of PSG and Real Madrid, no matter how well they are playing. In fact, against PSG, they could have scored more goals if they were more clinical in front of goal, but they could have also conceded more goals. Naturally, you can't expect Barca to put together the same amount of goals that they scored against Racing Santander against the likes of a Real Madrid, especially a Mourinho-led Real Madrid that came into the camp now with a great game plan. It was a defensive masterclass, fantastic counter-attacking football. It is what Mourinho has always been known for. It was a blessing for him not to have Vini Jr. there because Real Madrid just look so much better without Vini and Valverde at right back, but again, that's a separate video that I'm going to make on them. The point is naturally, people can't expect the same
4:36 attacking performances against better teams. But Barca for a few seasons now have always crumbled when it's against a more elite opposition, I'll say. Because the Chelsea game from last year is a big example of this. But even that Chelsea team were not good. So Barca got completely outplayed by a Premier League team that ended up having a terrible season. Now that was under Rosinho, they lost to Chelsea with Maresca, but still they were struggling even when Maresca was there. Then you have the fact that they were eliminated by a very weak Atletico Madrid side in the Champions League. >> Everybody's been eulogizing over Barcelona, and rightly so, because they have been excellent. But suddenly, their biggest game of the season have turned up, and Madrid have done a number on them. >> But again, I do think sometimes people pick and choose too much with big games, because whenever Barca clapped Real Madrid, for some reason it wasn't seen as a big game. People kept saying, "Oh, they beat the worst Real Madrid team in
5:22 years." Despite the fact that we were told with Mbappé arriving, this was supposed to be the run that Real Madrid were going to have where they're just going to win everything, because you had added one of the best players in the world to a team that had already won the double. But it's true, Barca have many issues that get really exposed when they play against better opposition. Now the defense is a problem, but the first thing I want to talk about is how out of form the attack has been. Yes, it's an unrealistic expectation to want Barcelona to score five, six, seven goals against better teams. But you also can't be this toothless in front of goal. It hasn't helped that a lot of players have been incredibly out of form. I mean, look at Lamine Yamal. I love Lamine Yamal, but if we're going to talk about him as the best player in the world, he also deserves to be massively criticized when he's been underperforming so much. The game against PSG, I mean, it was brushed off a little bit because he had that wonderful goal. It hid the fact that he was horrendous for the majority of the
6:08 game. I mean, two of PSG's goals literally happened because of a Lamine Yamal turnover. He decided it was a good idea to dink the ball into the middle of the park against the very best team in the world. But against Real Madrid, it was awful. Once again, he was pocketed by Cucurella. The same thing happened the season before when Cucurella was back at Chelsea. >> The best game for Lamine Yamal in this El Clasico is special. And once again, he was waiting to I don't know what because we saw all I think all these six percent of Lamine Yamal only slow and and you were in front in front of you a World Cup winner. Then let's not forget Cucurella is one of the best uh left backs in the world. And you might see him small and and and sometimes yes, moving around and not having the ball too much, but when he's about man marking, he's one of the best players in the world. And if you want to pass him, you have to bring the
6:54 best of that you have. And today, I think he was a little bit frustrated because he thought that I'm going to pass him because I'm so good. And Cucurella was up to it. >> Now, yes, should Cucurella have gotten a yellow card much earlier? Absolutely. I do think his work rate and aggression sometimes hides the fact that he's not particularly the best defender. His defending really depends on how lenient the ref is. Again, for those of you that don't have a brain, that doesn't mean that Cucurella didn't lock up Yamal. I just think that shows you how bad Yamal was that he let Cucurella just put him in his back pocket when he hasn't been particularly that good this season for Madrid. >> The star man, you knew what was going to happen today. You knew Cucurella was going to get as tight as hell to him. You knew he was going to try and wind him up. You know, he was trying to put him off his game. And if you can get him off his game, you have to go to the other side. >> But this is the issue. You got a guy who's campaigning for himself for the
7:40 Ballon d'Or, talking about how he deserves to be the best player in the world because people want to pay to watch him. And Hernandez got the better of him for the majority of the game against PSG, and Cucurella was all over him in the game against Real Madrid. He's got to perform better. >> But when you can nullify Lamine Yamal for the most part of games, then then then you got a chance. And that's what Real Madrid for the most part >> Now, yes, you could argue that Flick's system kind of forces Yamal to have to keep playing hero ball, but that doesn't explain the poor passes, that doesn't explain the easy chance he had which was a tap-in that he put out wide. Then you have Pedri. Now I actually thought Pedri versus PSG outside of the first 5-10 minutes was actually a really good performance. Unfortunately for him, he was playing 1v3 against the best midfield in the world, which is Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, and Zaire-Emery. He had no help in that game. Rodri came on as a second half sub and he looked awful, and
8:26 Bernal didn't really give him that much. So against PSG, I thought Pedri was good, but against Real Madrid, my god, was the play sloppy. He couldn't keep the ball. So many lethargic passes. I've never seen him turn the ball over that much. He did get the assist to Raphinha, which unfortunately is going to be forgotten about because Barcelona lost the game. But again, I've never seen Barca so bad in possession. So many turnovers. >> What will frustrate Hansi Flick more than anything with what he saw today, do you think? >> I think we know they give teams chances, and that's part and parcel of how they play. I think the sloppiness in passing, the amount of times they got caught in possession in the middle of the park. >> Like Real Madrid won by two goals, but they could have easily won by more because every single time there was a turnover, every single time there was a counter-attack opportunity, there was just so much space. Now yes, the defense has been an issue, a lot of individual
9:11 mistakes both in the game against PSG and against Real Madrid. I mean, Cubarsí makes Camavinga look like Ronaldinho in that second goal that Mbappé scores for the winner. But it's hard to put that much criticism on the defense because if you can't keep the ball, you're constantly putting this high line in a dangerous position. Individual errors are going to happen in the system. Cuz a lot of people obviously they bash Gerard Martin for the individual mistakes and ignore Cubarsí who also happens to make a lot of individual mistakes. If you guys remember that Chelsea game, Estevão Portamons skates. But the thing is with Cubarsí, we saw at the World Cup that he is a good defender. It's really the system. Now don't get it twisted, Barca still need to bring in a center-back. I'm shocked at the amount of names that Flick said no to in the summer. Romero would have been perfect for this team. He didn't want Bastoni. But the reality is even if you bring in a high-level quality center-back, sure you reduce some of these individual mistakes happening just because of the quality of
9:56 the center-back himself. But a lot of them are going to keep happening because of the way this system is. Like Cubarsí is going to be the focus because that was shocking defending on Camavinga, but the reason that opportunity is because Bellingham takes out three players with two skill moves. The entire system is built on the midfielders and the attack pressing well to reduce the attacking team from having the opportunity to pick out the pass in behind the back line. So, when the midfield presses in there, the defense is going to get exposed more often. But yes, Barca need center backs. The fans have been begging for it. Gerard Martin is a good rotational option. He cannot be your starting center back in these big games. Martin is supposed to be a guy that can step up when your main center backs are injured or you want to rotate to rest. You cannot go to battle with this guy as as the starting center back against the likes of PSG, against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid.
10:42 >> Clearance from Gerard Martin. It goes off him. It's just It's school boy stuff, but uh >> Again, that doesn't mean that Gerard Martin is bad or that he doesn't have a place on this team or that it's his fault that Barca lost these games. It's just the back line needs more quality. You have Joao Cancelo who unfortunately is able to hide a lot of stinkers against these bigger teams, against better attackers because he's really good against lower level opposition La Liga teams. Again, that's a skill in itself. There's a reason that Barca win La Liga. It's because even if you play bad against the two or three big teams in the league, the winner always comes down to who can play better in the games that you're supposed to win. That's one of the biggest issues that Real Madrid have had in the past. They don't win the games that they're supposed to win in La Liga, so Barca beat them to the league because the league rewards longevity. But in these games against the better oppositions, Cancelo is always sleeping.
11:27 We saw that in the game against PSG, just asleep on the back post again. We saw him getting cooked by Yan Diao Mandi all game. It was a real shame that Xavi Espart went out because he was one of the bright spots against PSG and I think he would have done a even better job against Diao Mandi because he looked really good in the beginning of the game. He goes out injured, Flick has to move Joao Cancelo to right back and it just doesn't work. Fermin Lopez looked better against Real Madrid, but again, the attack just toothless. Rodri, who there was so much hype about coming into the season, his legs looked gone even though he was rested against PSG for El Clasico. So yes, people are being reactionary over two losses when Barca have been so dominant and there's still so much of the season left to play. But the reason that Barca fans are upset and there are so many reactionary things happening is because a lot of the same issues have just been there throughout Flick's entire tenure, especially last
12:13 season. Last season Barca won the league because they won the games they were supposed to, but against any high-quality opposition outside of Real Madrid, they just didn't look good. Remember they tied Club Brugge. This year they've actually been a little bit better in my opinion because they smashed some of the other teams that they would have normally maybe struggled against in the Champions League. I'm talking about the performance against Feyenoord. That's a game that they could have easily tied the season before. But the attack has to be better. They have to be better in possession. There was a lack of intensity from these guys in both games. Like I said, the game against PSG you can brush off because the game was tied for the majority of the game. Then PSG clicked in those last 10 minutes and they won the game 4-2, but it was actually close. Yes, PSG were the better team, but my point is that you could have walked away from that performance with some positives to take away. Again, because PSG are the team to beat. But the Real Madrid one, not a good performance. Again, I'm not saying
12:59 the performance against PSG was better. They still made a ton of mistakes in that game. Gordon especially did not look good at all. He looked like a deer in headlights playing in a big fixture. A lot of the roadrunner memes and the criticisms around Gordon that came about when he was initially signed, a lot of that seemed correct because you would give him the ball on the left side and he would create nothing. Meanwhile, on the other end you saw what a proper left winger can do in Dembélé do it. He looked better against Madrid, but again, lackluster performance especially from the Barca main guys. Raphinha ends up getting a goal and he's coming back from an injury, so you can be a little bit more patient with him. But terrible performance from Lamine Yamal, Pedri not being good in possession, the same issue with Rodrygo, and the defense continuing to have the same issues that have been around for the past two seasons. You could say the past three seasons because a lot of people pretend like these issues only came about when Iñigo Martínez left. No, these issues were
13:45 there even when Martínez was there. And the funny part is coming into this game, Barca's high line had actually not been an issue. The majority of the goals they conceded had nothing to do with offside trap or pushing the team too far forward. They were all individual errors. Now you could argue against PSG it was individual errors too. That first goal comes from Yamal giving the ball away. Then you have a goal conceded from a corner. Then you have a poor clearance that leads to a Vitinha wonder goal. I mean, you can't really do anything about that. That's a fantastic shot from outside the box. Yes, you can clear it better, but how many players are able to replicate that goal? But against Real Madrid, they were lucky that Diomande couldn't find his finishing boots. They were lucky that Jude Bellingham didn't understand how to put the proper weight in passing because that game could have gone out of hand even more. Madrid created a lot of opportunities. As I stated, it was a counter-attack masterclass from Mourinho, something that he's always done against Barcelona.
14:31 >> Yeah, I thought they were actually Real Madrid. They always looked dangerous on the on the counter-attack. Diomande's [music] pace and Kylian Mbappe's pace, there was time and time again they could have got through with the right pass. So, they always looked dangerous. I think weirdly enough, they seem to be more um organized, don't they, without Vinicius Júnior? >> And I was just disappointing. You know, you come in with so much momentum, so much hype around the team, and then they lose two games [music] back-to-back in a fashion where they don't look at all like the Barca teams that we saw in the beginning of the season. Or even the season that we saw in 2024-2025. Like, these guys had one of their greatest ever starts, and that's how you perform in two of the biggest games in the season. It's disappointing. >> What frustrates you as a former Barca man today, Luis? >> I I saw Barcelona really favorites. They didn't bring really what Barcelona is
15:17 being doing. The aggressiveness up front, I think it was missing. The last third, there there there there were so many mistakes. They They took the when they had the ball and they had the options, they really allowed Real Madrid just to to survive the first 45. You have to score the first one. >> Now, of course, does this mean that the season is over? No. But, there are questions about whether Flick has actually learned anything from the losses that have happened in the past few seasons. Is this team ready to adapt? Are they ready to finally invest some money and bring in a center-back and try and get to that next level? Because I was doing a video with a fellow creator friend of mine named Carnage, and he was asking me about what do I think of Barcelona's chances in the Champions League? And I told him, with this team, you can never be confident in that competition. It doesn't matter if they're beating teams 10-0, 11-0. The Champions League is a different game. It requires a different skillset than La Liga. Barca have La Liga down to a
16:03 science. Like I said, they're going to get clowned now because they lost to Real Madrid. Who knows? Maybe the momentum shifts and Real Madrid come back and win the league. There's a very real possibility that what happens is this loss gets brushed off, and in the next few months Barca continue to destroy all the other La Liga teams, and they win the league again. The problem with this team is if you want to raise your ceiling, you need to bring in center backs. You need to adjust the way this team defends. And the attackers, they have to be better. You don't have to score five goals against PSG, but you have to create better opportunities. You have to be better in front of goal. Cuz against PSG, like I said, one of the biggest issues was the team not being clinical. And this isn't La Liga where you can create 10 chances and miss five of them and still score five goals. Against higher quality opposition, you only get a few chances, and you have to be clinical. That's what makes PSG so good. Look at the difference between their expected goals and the amount of goals that they score. There's usually a
16:49 big difference. Why? Because on those big nights, they actually put the ball in the back of the net. Barca need to do that more, and they need to create more opportunities. Because yes, the defense has been poor. They make a lot of errors. A center back is needed. The full back sometimes fall asleep. Sure. But there's also added pressure on them when the midfield can't hold the ball. When the guys up front can't beat their full back. Now, does this mean Barca's season is done? Obviously not. There's still so much football left to play. But again, the reason that people are so concerned is it seems like Flick team have not learned from the mistakes from the previous seasons. They will continue to do well in the league. They will go on beat some of the other Champions League teams. But is this team mentally and physically ready for when the biggest test come? And that's still a massive question around Flick's Barca. If you enjoyed this video, I'm sure you will love this one, too. Check it out right
