Barcelona came away with the three points from El Sadar with a controversial late penalty on Sunday night, beating Osasuna 2-1. Yet much of the narrative was around a disappointing Blaugrana performance, without hitting the heights.
Barcelona went ahead on the stroke of half time, with Jules Kounde heading in from a corner. Chimy Avila levelled with a rattling shot from outside the box, but Robert Lewandowski was adjudged to be brought down by Alejandro Catena late on, and did not err with the spot kick.
Xavi Hernandez‘s side only managed one shot from inside the box from open play after the 10th minute though.
“Defensively they have done an extraordinary job. We needed to generate more in attack when we had control. But these are three important points in a stadium where it is going to be difficult for everyone.”
The Blaugrana coach wanted his players to move both Osasuna and the ball around more often though, as MD recount from his post-match press conference.
“We did not move them around in the first minutes. We must improve our effectiveness. In the second half we had to circulate the ball better, which is what we trained but the idea is being reinforced. We lacked more one-on-ones and generating on the wing.”
“I am satisfied with the victory but we must take a step forward. It was also difficult for us against Cadiz. I would stick with the second half of Villarreal. That day we were excellent in not letting them enter our half. When you have to work on battling for the ball, there is no excellence but the team has done well.”
Having won La Liga last season, the focus shifts onto the Champions League this time around. Nevertheless, now a basis for success has been established, there will be higher demands of the style of play Xavi organizes too.