With Barcelona already through to the next round as leaders of the group and Borussia Monchengladbach assured of a spot in the Europa League by finishing third, either team didn’t have much to play for in their final fixture of Group C of the Champions League. It was especially apparent in the case of the Catalan club as Luis Enrique decided to bench Luis Suarez in the absence of first team regulars Gerard Pique, Neymar and Jordi Alba.
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Monchengladbach had a total of four changes from their match against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga over the weekend where they lost 4-1. With both teams performing poorly by their standards in the domestic league, a win was essential if only to prove a point.
However, the visiting German side made the mistake of allowing Barcelona the room to dominate possession and tempo which proved to be their downfall. Lionel Messi scored in the first half from a move he initiated and Arda Turan wrapped the game up for the team with a hat-trick in the second half:
Here are the five major talking points from the fixture:
#1 The combination play of Aleix Vidal and Denis Suarez
Aleix Vidal was in fine form against Monchengladbach as he seemed keen to prove to Luis Enrique what a natural left-back can actually bring to the game. He defended with precision and confidence whenever he was called upon to do so but showed his real worth when going forward. With no pressure from the German side to speak of, Vidal had the freedom to surge forward along the flanks and push the ball up closer to the opposition’s box.
He combined brilliantly with Denis Suarez for large parts of the night in deftly passing the ball and creating havoc for an already frantic Borussia defence. Suarez was one of the players who benefitted from the numerous suspensions and injuries in the starting XI and started in an important game where Barcelona had to break their recent slump. Both their efforts bore concrete proof as each of them provided an assist for Turan in the second half.
#2 Gladbach fail to get the rub of the green
The visiting team did not have many opportunities to score at the Camp Nou and were happy to sit back for most of the night. However, the one occasion where they looked through on goal, the German side were rather unfairly treated.
Andre Schubert’s men looked like they were on the verge of scoring in the first half when Thorgan Hazard went clearly through on goal but got called back because he was deemed offside by the assistant referee. To anyone who was watching the match, it could not have been a worse call by the official as Hazard was clearly onside. While a single goal may not have been much in the face of Barcelona’s eventual four, it could have potentially changed the way the game was played out.
#3 Football has Andres Iniesta back
Iniesta is like fine wine that only gets better with age. While it isn’t the strictest of analogies, the diminutive Spaniard continues to be Barcelona’s main lifeline in midfield. He was passing the ball around with authority and made it a nightmare for the visitors to regain possession for any length of time while the Barcelona captain was in the vicinity. He made Borussia’s Tobias Strobl and Mahmoud Dahoud look helplessly on as he skipped away with the ball repeatedly.
The presence of Andre Gomes alongside Iniesta also proved to be a great success as the two kept the ball from the opposition and provided their own teammates with some great deliveries to work with. While his 86% passing accuracy from the game is far from his best, it was definitely good enough to keep Borussia at bay.
#4 Borussia’s complacency
Considering Barcelona’s recent poor form and their three consecutive draws, the visiting side should have worked harder to get the home side off their game. For all their dominating possession and intricate passing, Barcelona did not really register too many direct shots on goal in the first half barring Messi’s goal. Instead of taking complete advantage of their opposition’s relative impotency, Borussia was more than happy to let them run the show.
The same thing continued in the second half. Shubert’s side refused to press Messi and company as they ran circles around their players and box making it no wonder they scored a total of four goals in their final fixture of the group stages.
#5 Barcelona is still waiting on Paco Alcacer
Paco Alcacer must have arrived at the Camp Nou with dreams of scoring big on the biggest of stages in world football when he moved from Valencia at the start of this season. However, that particular eventuality has yet to materialise with him struggling to find his best form at the club. In fact, last night’s game was the first time he started with Lionel Messi after all these months in the Spaniard failed to impress yet again.
While his teammates enjoyed the bulk of possession, passing the ball around like they were the only team on the pitch, Alcacer himself was rarely significantly involved. His biggest contribution of the night was his assist for Turan’s third goal but that was pretty much it from the former Valencia player.
