Even without the fired Ronald Koeman, Barcelona failed to win on Saturday. The team of interim coach Sergi Barjuán played a draw against Deportivo Alavés: 1-1. Tensed and expectant, only 37,000 spectators looked forward to a duel in which there might be a turnaround, but it soon became clear that there was no question of a new impetus or fresh wind. “At Barcelona they have to understand that the coach was not the problem,” it says marca.
“It didn’t work out with Ronald and also not with Sergi… Barcelona had the same problem as under Koeman: lack of effectiveness, many injuries, while the opponent scores easily. It remains a team that has the sparks, but no fire. Barcelona’s last two years actually deserve a book. Every week there is a new chapter, there is never a dull moment. A win would have been logical, but this Barcelona is a box full of surprises.”
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What a lovely curl from the Dutch attacker! Barca in the lead ????#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BarcaAlaves pic.twitter.com/0fFxS32fhF
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 30, 2021
There were compliments from the best-selling sports newspaper in Spain to Memphis Depay. “He showed himself with some good moves and opened the scoring brilliantly.” That was where the bright spots remained. “And then there were only 37,000 supporters. That’s another problem, and a very serious problem too: you can never lose the fans.”
Mundo Deportivo On the other hand, he had mixed feelings about Depay’s performance: “He showed several high-level actions in the first half. And also with his brilliant goal in the second half, the Dutchman showed that he is eager to lead Barcelona’s attack after missing a penalty against Rayo Vallecano. But he also failed to convert two good opportunities into a goal.”
The Catalan sports newspaper saw Barcelona ‘didn’t stand up’ under Sergi and points out that there was little difference with Koeman’s team. “Barcelona stumbles again. It Barcelona of Sergi showed some positive facets in the beginning, but it was not enough. In both good and bad it was much like it Barcelona from Koeman. That is normal on the other hand, Sergi has not had time. However, the team wanted the ball to go around faster than in recent weeks. There were no opportunities, there was no poison in it.”
Also ASH dwells on the lack of shock effect. “After Koeman same old Barcelona. Koeman is gone, but Barcelona still can’t win. A brilliant goal, but that was the result of individual brilliance and not good team play,” the Madrid newspaper referred to Depay’s 1-0 Barcelona will undoubtedly look forward to Xavi’s presentation. Can he bring magic back to Barcelona? Time will tell.”
‘Memphis’ magic wasn’t enough’, says Sport. “He took responsibility and the best actions came from his feet, but it was not enough to lead Barcelona to a recovering victory.” The attacker’s perseverance is praised. “He kept trying until the end, but was unable to cause serious problems for the visitors.” The Catalan sports newspaper has Xavi, no tardes in big letters on the front page, ‘Xavi, come quickly’.