🔬 The Debrief: Positive signs but Barcelona staring at another puzzle | OneFootball

Reigning champions Barcelona put up a fight away to Osasuna in order to stay two points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Here we break down a dramatic 90 minutes in LaLiga.

What happened?

A late – yet trademark – Robert Lewandowski penalty was enough for Xavi’s side to claim all three points after Chimy Ávila’s stunner from outside the box cancelled out Jules Kounde’s opener.

Man of the Match

An all-around performance at both ends of the pitch from Koundé earns him Man of the Match honours when other Barcelona stars couldn’t quite display the quality we know they have.

After getting his head on the end of a corner from İlkay Gündoğan, the Frenchman proved to be a big presence at the back with three dribbles, four aerials won, two tackles and 92% pass completion over about 100 minutes of action.

A workhorse performance that won’t go unnoticed.

Key Detail

A classic tussle between two players favoured Barcelona around the 85-minute mark, as Lewandowski went down in the box after feeling contact with Osasuna’s Alejandro Catena.

The collision was brief and could have truly been missed by fans in real-time, but when looking at the rules of the game it was simply a defender bringing down an attacker without getting the ball. Hence, the red card and penalty.

Since Osasuna kept Barcelona rather tame up until that point, we could have very well seen the points split between these two sides if it finished with 11 men each.

Depending on who you support, some viewers may argue the Poland international dove, though.

Stat of the Match

In case you missed it, 19-year-old Gavi made history and stepped closer to cementing himself as a Barcelona legend.

What this means

After dropping points in their opening game, Barcelona have now won three in a row as they wait for Real Madrid to slip up. However – one big puzzle remains for Xavi despite the promising signs.

João Félix, João Cancelo and Iñigo Martínez all made their club debut on Sunday, and all three will be key for Barcelona’s squad depth.

But how – and if – they can change the game will be crucial, and the boss must find their best position in the squad sooner than later.

Time is on his side, though, to figure out the perfect starting XI formula while keeping their cup competitions in mind.

What they said

Xavi on his new players: “I think we can play João Félix as a striker or on the left. His attitude was great today … Cancelo needs to join the midfield in attack, I told him to do that before he came on. He will give us numerical superiority in midfield.”

Gavi on the team’s development: “I feel like if we played this match two years ago, we would have lost.”

What comes next?

Looking ahead, Barcelona will hope to have smoothed out all their bumps with a huge clash against Real Betis at home the first back after the international break.