The Spanish press have been ruthless in their assessment of Barcelona’s performance against Chelsea after Hansi Flick and Co endured a Champions League night to forget at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening.
The hosts were at the visitors’ throats from moments after kick-off, with Chelsea finding the back of the net in just the fourth minute, only to see their strike ruled out.
The breakthrough came finally in the 27th minute via a shambolic Jules Kounde own goal, and following the dismissal of Ronaldo Araujo after the visiting star picked up a second yellow for a clumsy challenge on Marc Cucurella, Flick’s side looked unable to lay a glove on Enzo Maresca’s players.
Such was Barcelona’s capitulation that their own media wasted no time describing them as ‘unrecognisable’, with Mundo Deportivo headline detailing how ‘a Barca far from its level (suffered) from a resounding KO’ and adding that Chelsea could have had ‘even more’ goals.
Spanish outlet as dubbed the outing a ‘nightmare’, where Chelsea had ‘run over’ Barcelona, only for them to ‘get into trouble’ themselves and create a ‘disaster’, with both newspapers lamenting the result fixing them to 15th place in the Champions League standings.
In Catalonia, Catalan outlet L’Esportiu described Barcelona as ‘tight-fisted’, stating that the club had offered ‘a very poor version, (made) Chelsea’s job easier, and (made) it very difficult to finish in the top eight’.
Lamine Yamal and Co of Barcelona endured a night to forget as they lost 3-0 to Chelsea
The Spanish press dubbed the outing in London a ‘nightmare’ as they went down to 10 men
‘Araujo’s unforgivable sending-off turns the second-half into an exercise in imcompetence for the Blaugrana,’ the front page continued.
Sport was equally damning as the paper wailed ‘not like this, Barca’, also agreeing that the team were ‘unrecognisable’ from the iteration that has impressed in the domestic league and allowed them to keep pace with LaLiga-topping Real Madrid.
The front page also stressed that Hansi Flick’s entire project should be under scrutiny, as the team were left ‘without an answer’ in west London.
Inside the newspaper’s pages, the verdict was no less miserable reading for Barcelona fans, as the outlet ran the rule over each of the players and doled out brutal ratings for a number of stars.
In his much anticipated first appearance on English soil, Lamine Yamal was handed a mere four out of 10 for his efforts.
The talented teenager was kept quiet by Cucurella during his toil at Stamford Bridge, and replaced to ringing boos and mocking chants of ‘you’re just a s*** Estevao’ from the home faithful in the stands.
As per Sport, the Spain international ‘started bright and electric, but faded along with the rest of the team far too quickly.
‘Isolated and invisible for long stretches. It wasn’t his day (or almost anyone’s).’
Hansi Flick’s side were ‘unrecognisable’ as Brazilian superstarlet Estevao ran them ragged
Sport cried ‘not like this, Barca’ (left), while Catalonia’s L’Esportiu complained that the evening had been ‘an exercise in impotence’
Marcus Rashford, like Yamal, was handed a four out of 10 for his appearance as a substitute
Jules Kounde received the lowest grade for his own goal which handed Chelsea their opener
Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford was handed a similarly blunt assessment for his performance after he was brought on at half-time.
‘He came on with one less player and couldn’t act as an agitator,’ his rating, which also described him as ‘sentenced’, read. ‘He was neither seen nor sacrificed in defense.’
‘Absent’ Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, and Frenkie de Jong, who was described as ‘lost’, were also subject to the same grade.
Araujo, who received his first yellow for dissent after complaining to the referee that Yamal should receive a freekick, was duly handed the lowest of the ratings, a paltry three.
‘He made a mistake with the first yellow card, which was unnecessary (the referee could have spared him that one too),’ his rating read. ‘And then he committed a clear yellow card offense right before half-time.
‘The sending-off was perfectly understandable. Up until that point, his tackles had been solid.’
Kounde was also given a three for his ‘worrying performance;, as was ‘jinxed’ Ferran Torres for missing his clear chance in the first-half.
The team’s highest-rated player, Alejandro Balde, may have been ‘one of the few bright spots’, but he only received a six out of 10.
Ronald Araujo was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Marc Cucurella which earned him a second yellow card
The Catalonian defender was a standout for the hosts leading outlets in Spain to question how the club had let him get away from them
Marca had even more questions for Barcelona to answer, with their focus on the opposition rather than the Catalan giants.
The Spanish outlet was keen to interrogate how Player of the Match Cucurella had been able to slip through Barcelona’s fingers, with the 27-year-old training at their La Masia academy as a youth player.
Cucurella left Catalonia in 2020 after a string of loan spells and zero appearances for the senior team, and teased that he had forced his Barcelona-supporting family to don Chelsea shirts on Tuesday night if they wanted access to his box.
But while Marca acknowledged that dislodging former left back Jordi Alba might have been a challenge, Barcelona ‘could have found ways to retain control of this player who, since leaving Barca, has excelled wherever he’s played and become one of the best full backs in the world’.
Cucurella was handed an 8.5 rating by Daily Mail Sport and praised on commentary by Wayne Rooney as ‘absolutely incredible’.
‘Probably the best performance I’ve seen from a left back for a long, long time,’ he added on Amazon Prime. ‘To do that tonight, he’s a serious player’.
And in the eyes of his manager Maresca, Cucurella was ‘phenomenal’.
‘Since I came to the club, his level has been high, not only his defending but also as part of our play with the ball,’ the Italian head coach said after the final whistle.
‘Cucu always gives us an advantage, and we are delighted with him.’
