"Barcelona recorded their eighth successive win across all competitions last weekend in the Catalan derby, but as manager Hansi Flick said, the team did not deserve to win given their performance. While it is the three points that matter at the end, the truth of the matter is that they were dominated against both Villarreal and Espanyol, and that Joan Garcia played a massive role on both nights. As they step into the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, their goal must thus be to put up a performance to be proud of rather than just scrape out wins after being dominated."
"For starters, it is the first big tournament for Barcelona in 2026, testing the team after the halfway point in the season when the squad is reasonably seasoned. At the same time, it hands them the golden chance of landing the first trophy of the season. Historically, doing well in the Spanish Super Cup has usually boded well for Barcelona later in the season and the correlation is not complex. After all, the confidence boost a piece of silverware can hand at this point in the season is massive."
Barcelona recorded their eighth successive win across all competitions in the Catalan derby but were judged undeserving by manager Hansi Flick because of poor performance. The team were dominated against Villarreal and Espanyol, with Joan Garcia playing a massive role on both nights. The priority in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia is to produce a performance to be proud of rather than merely scraping results. Barcelona face Athletic Club in the semifinal; Athletic have struggled for goals, have one win in five, and drew 1-1 with Osasuna. A win would place Barcelona one match away from the trophy and boost dressing-room morale.
Read at Barca Universal
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]