Sergio Busquets of FC Barcelona celebrates after the LaLiga match between FC Barcelona and Elche CF at Camp Nou on December 18, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Barcelona’s youth the only thing keeping this team afloat
A win is a win but it was anything but pretty as Barcelona only managed to scrape by a 3-2 win over Elche at the Camp Nou.
With a few exceptions, Xavi Hernandez fielded a fairly young side giving Ferran Jutglá the start, accompanying Abde and Ousmane Dembélé up front. The 22-year-old quickly rewarded the manager’s confidence as he scored the opener off a corner in the 16th minute.
His goal continued the trend of the club’s academy players scoring their first goal for the senior team.
The youth revolution stayed on course as just three minutes later, Gavi doubled the Catalans’ lead following a nice solo effort from midfield. Just like that, it was 2-0 before the half hour mark. As it stood, it looked like Barcelona were on their way to a comfortable victory.
A tale of two halves for Barcelona
Winning comfortably hasn’t been what Barcelona have done well this season. In fact, blowing leads has been their calling card and against Elche, it proved no different.
The visitors came out of the break on the front foot with the home side doing just enough to spell out any danger. However, the customary second half collapse got started in the 62nd minute as Elche pulled one back. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has come under a lot of scrutiny, should have done better.
Only a minute later, Elche equalized as the Barcelona defense was all over the shop, leaving Pere Milla completely unmarked.
For Barcelona supporters, those two goals in two minutes came as no surprise. Whether under Ronald Koeman or now Xavi, the Catalans have shown a propensity to come out of the break with no initiative and let the opponent back in the game regardless of the result.
It happened at Celta Vigo when they were up 3-0 at halftime only to see Celta equalize in the final seconds of the game. It seemingly was going to happen at home to Elche.
As has been the trend this season, the La Masia players stepped up to pull Barcelona out of this mess.
Snatching victory from the jaws of a draw was Nico Gonzalez who came on as a second half substitute. Following some good link-up play between Dembélé and Gavi, the latter cut the ball back inside the box, which found Nico who finished calm under pressure to restore their lead.
Barcelona were able to traverse the last ten minutes of the match rather calmly to come out with the win.
The three points are vital for a team who now only aspire to reach the top four and qualify for the Champions League next season.
However, the second half collapses should be more than concerning for Xavi. They have become far too common regardless of which opponent is in front of them. The fans are going to be patient with Xavi but certain players may not be afforded the same courtesy.
Still tied at two, Frenkie de Jong was replaced by Riqui Puig. There were some quite audible jeers towards the Dutch midfielder by fans in attendance. The same could be heard whenever Ter Stegen had the ball. While still in the minority, it’s become quite clear which players are going to take the brunt of the blame when things don’t pick up.
Dropping two points would have been a gut punch so credit to the team, especially the younger ones, on being able to get a winner. But Xavi has his work cut out for him as he awaits for some reinforcements during the winter transfer window.
Things don’t get any easier as Barcelona will play midweek to makeup for a postponement earlier in the season when they travel to Seville to take on Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
