Barcelona outdone by self-sabotage in Champions League

In LaLiga, Barcelona has cruised to success. Four wins in four games have the side at the top of the league with no team inside of three points. It was a different story on a rare Thursday night in the UEFA Champions League. Ten minutes into the contest, a red card to Barcelona center-back Eric Garcia gave Monaco the man advantage. That was enough for the Ligue 1 side to pick up an invaluable three points to open their Champions League account in 2024/25.

That red card set the tone for the entire contest. Center-back was already a weak position for Barcelona. Therefore, Barca boss Hansi Flick went with three traditional center-backs. Iñigo Martinez, Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia made up the defense, even though Garcia was playing more in the midfield. None of the trio were culpable for the fault, though. A dismal pass from goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen gave the ball to Monaco’s Takumi Minamino. Garcia had no choice but to bring the Japanese international down. His direct red card contributed to Barcelona going behind five minutes later.

Lamine Yamal’s individual brilliance almost salvaged something from this game for Barcelona. The teenager leveled the game going into halftime. Yet, that did not last the entire 90 minutes. George Ilenikhena, another teenager, this time for Monaco, scored the game-winning goal for Monaco in the 71st minute. Unable to push forward because of the man deficit, Barcelona never looked like a true threat going forward. However, this still ties back to the fact that Barcelona has a lackluster defense.

Barcelona not out of the Champions League, but there is work to do

The league phase of the Champions League is uncharted territory for each club. In the past, an opening loss would give each side just five games to turn around the early struggle. Now, Barcelona has seven games against differing levels of opposition to make the most out of the Champions League. That includes games that Barcelona will be massive favorites in. For example, Crvena Zvezda, Young Boys and Brest should all be straightforward contests for a side of Barcelona’s caliber.

That does not account for the strong teams that Barcelona will face. Most notably, Barcelona must take on Bayern Munich at home with trips to Borussia Dortmund and Benfica. One would think Barcelona will drop points somewhere along the way. There is no magic number for what would get a team into either the playoff stage or directly into the round of 16. Some estimates would put that number at 16 points for the latter and 10 for the former.

Whatever the case may be, Barcelona is behind pace and clearly behind form. The side will miss Eric Garcia for the coming contest against Young Boys at home. Iñigo Martinez picked up a yellow card for a simply silly push away from the ball on a Monaco player. Those tiebreakers are now worth noting for Barcelona should it be in a tight race for qualifying as the campaign progresses.

PHOTOS: IMAGO