FC Barcelona 0-0 Slavic Praha: Three things we learned from the game | UEFA Champions League 2019/20
A victory over Slavia Praha would have all but sealed a place in the knockout phase for Barcelona and would have been the best way for Ernesto Valverde’s men to shrug off the disappointment from the weekend. However, the Catalan giants had to settle for a point against a motivated Slavia Praha side after the game ended goalless in the end in their Champions League encounter.
Barcelona struggled in the opening minutes of the game, with Slavia Prague undoing their defence on more than one occasion. But they did manage to get back into the game and carved out some great opportunities to score and were unlucky to go into half-time without scoring. Lionel Messi rattled the cross-bar after a brilliant solo run from the halfway line and Gerard Pique’s brilliantly-timed header was wonderfully kept out by the opposition goalkeeper.
The Blaugrana looked much better in the second-half but still couldn’t put the ball past Ondrej Kolar, who was brilliant on the night. Lionel Messi did come close to scoring in the second-half from a brilliant cross by Ansu Fati, but was denied by the Slavia goalkeeper. Overall, the Catalan giants looked flat for most of the game and a draw seems like a fair result in the end.
Here are three things we learned from the stalemate between Barcelona and Slavia Praha:
#3 Blaugrana’s defensive frailties clearly visible
FC Barcelona conceded three goals in eight minutes against Levante during the weekend, and their defensive issues were once again highlighted against Slavia Praha. The Slavia frontline found it very easy to get past the Blaugrana back line on more than one occasion with a simple pass between the full-back and the centre-back.
Moreover, the Catalan giants struggled against the opposition counter-attacks and found themselves out-numbered on a number of occasions. They were lucky to come away with a clean sheet as Slavia managed to carve out great opportunities to score.
