"Surprisingly solid", "He was decent today" - Barcelona fans praise star's performance in 3-1 win over Unionistas in Copa Del Rey fixture
Barcelona fans on X were impressed with Oriol Romeu's performance in the Copa del Rey round of 16 win against Unionistas on January 18.
The Blaugrana earned a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Unionistas at the Campo de Futbol Reina Sofia. Alvaro Gomez gave the home side the lead in the 31st minute. Ferran Torres (45'0, Jules Kounde (69'), and Alejandro Balde (73') scored to seal the win for Xavi's side.
Romeu started the game in midfield alongside Fermin Lopez and Frenkie de Jong and played the full match. The Spaniard completed 76 passes with 90% accuracy. He played one key pass and completed three long balls. Romeu also won four ground duels and four aerial duels in the game
Fans were impressed with the display as one of them tweeted:
"Oriol surprisingly solid."
Another fan wrote:
"He was decent today icl."
Since his reported €8 million summer move from Girona, Romeu has now made 20 appearances for the Catalan club, providing one assist.
While the midfielder has been in and out of the first XI, he put up a shift against Unionistas. Here are some of the best reactions from Barcelona fans on X:
Barcelona star Jules Kounde defends Xavi after Unionistas win
Barcelona entered the clash against Unionistas on the back of a 4-1 hammering by Real Madrid at the Supercopa de Espana final on January 14. While the team had a point to prove, they didn't perform very well against Unionistas.
The pressure is piling up on Xavi due to the underwhelming recent display. Jules Kounde, however, refused to accept that the blame for the bad performance was entirely on the manager. He told the media after the Unionistas win (via Barca Universal):
“Sure, in the end, you can talk about the coach but we are the ones who play, so when there are bad results they are our fault of course. We had to react, this game was important and we need to have more intensity. I think that’s what we’re lacking this year and we need to be more decisive.”
Barcelona will return to action on January 21 to take on Real Betis in a La Liga away clash. They have 41 points from 19 matches and trail league leaders Girona by eight points with a game in hand.