Barcelona's Self-Criticism Is First Step on Path to Correcting Celta Vigo Errors
Was this Galicia or Rome?
After Barcelona were defeated in battle by a vicious, cobra-like Celta Vigo, Luis Enrique stood up and declared he was Spartacus.
No, I am Spartacus, said Sergio Busquets.
No, I am Spartacus, said Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Well, more or less, albeit in other words.
Barcelona went down 4-3 to Celta on a tumultuous, turbulent, tempestuous but above all thrilling night in Vigo, one riddled with errors from their perspective.
Mistakes permeated their game throughout, but especially the first half in which, after a good opening period, they conceded three goals in an 11-minute spell which killed them, or at least should have.
It is to Barcelona's credit that they staged a fightback in the second half, clawing their way out from under the soil only to have Ter Stegen cave his team's own head in with a shovel and dispatch them back to the grave, just when it seemed they had risen from the dead.
Luis Enrique's apology came first.
“I’m the first person responsible for this defeat," he said in his press conference after the game, per Sport. "We all lose and we all win, but when we lose I’m culpable first, the first who has to improve. I’m responsible for the rotations, and I’m the one who has to take the responsibility.”
As well as having Lionel Messi and Samuel Umtiti unavailable through injury, he decided this was the time to rest regular midfield duo Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic, as well as choosing Jeremy Mathieu over Javier Mascherano in defence. The Croatian has been left out of his national team’s squad for an Achilles problem, so that may not have been the coach’s choice.
Whether he was right or wrong to make these rotations is a tricky issue and one that will be discussed in the coming days.
However, to do so against an opponent that thrashed Barcelona 4-1 little over a year ago on this turf set off alarm bells. Furthermore, making the changes ahead of the international break was also curious.
Sport's Lluis Mascaro was extremely unhappy with Luis Enrique's dabbling, likening his experiments to the actions of a crackpot professor from a comic:
"I was a big fan of TBO [a Spanish comic]. And of the crazy inventions of Professor Franz from Copenhagen. Surreal inventions. Because it was impossible that they could work. More or less what Luis Enrique is doing with his line ups. With one difference: the inventions in TBO were fun. Luis Enrique’s don’t bring any joy. Because they cost FC Barcelona points.
"
On the other hand, if Barcelona arrive at the end of the season with their top players fresh and firing—few of them are on form at the moment—then Enrique’s choices will be justified, and the doubters will be singing his praises from the rooftops.
The coach tried to suck up all responsibility and blame like a sponge, protecting his players, but the reality was that on this occasion they were more to blame than he was.
His substitutions changed the game, with Iniesta dominating on his 600th Barcelona appearance after being brought on at half-time, while Denis Suarez also dazzled when he replaced Busquets.
Nobody called for Suarez to be included from the start, so this was a good change by the manager—while Iniesta was a rather obvious one.
While mistakes were made by every single Barcelona player on the pitch, two players had particularly awful games: Busquets and Ter Stegen.
Luis Suarez was totally ineffective, Neymar’s sloppy first half prejudiced Barcelona interests and Sergi Roberto had the worst game of his career since the coach made him a right-back.
But Busquets' and Ter Stegen’s errors stood head and shoulders above the rest as the ones that cost the team, and they knew it.
The first goal saw them both err. Ter Stegen’s pass for the midfielder was not a good one and forced him to stretch to reach it.
Regardless, Busquets should have controlled and kept the ball, instead of giving it away cheaply to Celta Vigo, leading to Pione Sisto’s opener.
Then Busquets missed a header in midfield, allowing Iago Aspas in for No. 2, with the former Liverpool man skinning Gerard Pique and firing past Ter Stegen.
“It’s clear that I am one of those responsible for this defeat and for letting in so many goals,” admitted Busquets after the game, speaking to Canal Plus. “This has not been one of my best games. Errors in the middle of the pitch hurt you a lot. I have to work harder and keep improving.”
But despite these errors, Barcelona hauled the game back to a 3-2 deficit, before Ter Stegen made another glaring error which effectively killed his team’s hopes of winning the game.
With Sergi Roberto open on the right, he attempted a chip over Pablo Hernandez to spread the ball left instead to Jordi Alba.
Unfortunately for the German, Hernandez was charging him down like a bull, and the ball hit the midfielder, bouncing backwards, off the post and into the net.
“It’s my fault, I’m really sorry,” he said on Canal Plus after the game. “If I hadn’t made the mistake we could have won this game. Even though this has happened, I’m not going to change [my game]. It’s just happened once.”
It was a bold comment from Ter Stegen, admitting he was at fault for the goal but insisting he would not modify the outlandish way he plays.
Ter Stegen let in four goals a year ago against Celta Vigo, and the same has happened again, but there is a world of difference between then and now, and it would be a bad decision to renounce his unique way of playing because of one catastrophe.
As discussed on Bleacher Report last week, Ter Stegen is a revolutionary player and someone who is key to Barcelona’s game.
Pique, who scored twice and was Barcelona’s best player—with the exception of Iniesta—does not think Ter Stegen should be influenced too heavily by this match.
“He is good with his feet, and a lot of our moves are started by him. Everyone makes mistakes,” insisted the centre-back, per Sport. “May he continue playing as he does. I firmly believe that he has to continue in the same way.”
Sometimes after games, there needs to be an inquest as to what went wrong. Here the problems were clear.
Admitting responsibility is the first step to improving, and Busquets and Ter Stegen came out and did that immediately when it would have been easy to crawl away and hide in the safety of the international break for the next two weeks, brushing it under the carpet.
A team with players as talented as these—and as honest—will not go too far wrong. While Barcelona failed to take advantage of Real Madrid’s draw with Eibar, that result means the damage from this game isn’t as consequential for the table.
The Catalans are fourth on 13 points, just two behind joint leaders Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Everything is still to play for, and a team of Spartacuses is just what Barcelona need in this long campaign. A battle is lost, but the war rages on.
Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.
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