22-year-old Barcelona player fails to take rare chance against Real Valladolid — Opinion | OneFootball

FC Barcelona faced Real Valladolid in La Liga during the weekend, but the game turned out to be much more difficult than one anticipated, with the Catalan club having to perform a comeback 2-1 win over the 20th-placed Spanish side.

Barcelona were trailing 1-0 in the first half, with the game lacking intensity. Flick made as many as nine rotations from the starting XI that faced Inter Milan at the Montjuic, and many of the fringe players got a chance on the night.

Among those included was Ansu Fati, whose Barcelona career has fallen off a cliff. Making just his third start of the season, the Spaniard was hooked at half-time and replaced by Raphinha, who went on to level the game for his side.

Fati was given a chance to start for the second successive time in La Liga after an impressive display against Mallorca. However, against Real Valladolid, the Spaniard did a few things right and a few things wrong in his 45-minute cameo.

What went well?

Barcelona forward Ansu Fati. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Fati looked sharp with his link-up play, just like he did against Mallorca in the previous game. On that night, he had Hector Fort on the overlap, which played into the duo’s strengths, but the same partnership could not be emulated with Gerard Martin.

In the first 45 minutes against Valladolid, Fati was a direct goal threat. He kept trying to pepper the opposition goal continuously and even had a few brilliant shots that he saw thwarted by the goalkeeper of the opposing team.

The Spanish left-winger had crisp passing and played some good one-twos with Pedri on the night, but at the end of the first 45 minutes, the Spaniard was unable to turn the situation around in a game that Barcelona trailed 1-0.

What did not go well?

One huge issue for Fati, which has been typical of his game in recent seasons, has been his reluctance to take his man on. It has been ages since the 22-year-old was seen trying to get past his full-back and go on the outside.

What this leads to is the fact that the Spaniard has now become extremely one-dimensional, and defenders are able to see him off, knowing that he is only going to keep coming inside. Unpredictability is what makes a winger quite potent.

Since his injury horrors, Fati has lost a yard of pace, which is pretty much the difference from the player that he once was. His intelligence is still very much there, but without the speed, he is being shunted out quite easily, as seen against Valladolid.

What’s next for Ansu Fati?

As per SofaScore, Fati recorded an xG of 0.17 and xA of 0.02 in the 45 minutes. He completed 15/19 passes that he attempted. He had one shot on target and two shots blocked in the first half. He completed all three of his attempted dribbles.

Fati, quite impressively, completed 6 out of the 8 ground duels that he attempted on the night. However, he would have wanted to do better with losing possession 9 times in just 45 minutes. Stats show that it was a mixed performance from the 22-year-old.

Fati ultimately squandered a chance to impress against Valladolid, and it remains to be seen if Hansi Flick gives him any more opportunities between now and the end of the season. Should he not, the Valladolid game might be the last time we saw Fati in a Barcelona jersey, and let’s wait and see how it plays out.