Barcelona 4-0 PSV Eindhoven: 4 takeaways from Barcelona's 2018/19 UCL debut
A game of two halves. The first half started with the Catalans keeping possession and eerily closing in on scoring early. The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute when a certain diminutive Argentine scored an incisive freekick from just outside the box.
PSV came into the match on the back of an impressive domestic scoring streak and certainly created a lot of chances against the Spanish champions as well. They were pretty wasteful with their efforts and it came to bite them back in the second half.
The second half started with Los Cules on the front foot. Dembele showed some incredible moves all through the match and his moment came in the 75th minute when he single-handedly decided to take on the entire PSV midfield and defense. He twinkle-toed through the players like they were training cones and shot a cool rocket in the back of the net taking the game away from the Dutch side.
Messi did little to help PSV's cause when he quickly changed the scoreline from 2-0 to 4-0 with some incredible movement inside the box. Let's discuss what the fans would take away from the game.
Arthur is worth all the hype
Arthur came on in the 83rd minute and had a sum total of 12 minutes to prove his worth on the big stage.
He came on for a 10-men Barca side after Samuel Umtiti was sent off and the former Gremio player did not disappoint one bit. Many Cules would have had a feeling of deja-vu when they must have seen Arthur playing with the ball at his feet like a certain Xavi used to.
Movement, control, vision, and astute passing were key to his playing style and he showed more in 12 minutes than many of the midfielders Barcelona bought to replace Xavi had done in full games.
Arthur embodies the three principles of Barcelona's style. Position, Possession, and Play. A real catch for Ernesto Valverde's side.