Three takeaways from Deportivo Alaves 1-0 Barcelona | La Liga MD36

Instead of focusing on the 100-point objective, the manager handed key stars a rest, given that the game was just days after El Clasico and the title celebrations, which ran late into the night.

With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, player welfare becomes all the more important.

The defeat last night, thus, ended Barcelona’s hopes of breaching the 100-point mark in La Liga and Flick’s chance to ensure his side is never forgotten.

Yet, his decision as a manager is completely understandable and one cannot blame the team for underperforming against a side fighting to stay alive while worn out themselves.

Disappointment in attack

Hansi Flick’s rotations against Deportivo Alaves saw him field bench players across the field in all departments. The attack, however, was the department that disappointed the most.

Roony Bardghji failed to make the most of the opportunity. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

On the night, the manager started Roony Bardghji on the right, Marcus Rashford on the left and Robert Lewandowski as the centre-forward. All three players failed to step up to the occasion, and the result reflected the same.

Bardghji, for starters, was handed a golden chance with the start and had over 60 minutes to prove his worth and make something meaningful of his opportunity.

In his time on the field, however, he completed just one cross, had just one shot and completed just 50% of his dribbles. He did not create any threat of notice and left the field with another disappointing display.

Rashford, meanwhile, looked indecisive and slack once more and was nowhere close to how decisive he was in El Clasico. His inconsistency and poor decision-making, which are the main reasons Barcelona are second-guessing signing him permanently, were highlighted once more.

Finally, Lewandowski was barely visible on the night. Starting as the centre-forward, the Polish star never really got into a scoring position and was very slack with his decision-making under pressure.

Given that these may be his final games in a Barcelona shirt, he would have liked to put up a better display.

A perfect debut

The biggest highlight of Barcelona’s game last night was none of the team’s usual players but a young star who made his debut and caught eyes as part of the starting XI on the night – Alvaro Cortes.

Alvaro Cortes made his Barcelona debut. Photo courtesy: Instagram/alvaarocortes

The young La Masia defender is highly rated by the club and Flick, and last night he earned a start to make a case to be a part of the first-team dynamics next season. The first impression he left, playing under all that immense pressure, was fabulous.

Cortes made it look easy to handle the high defensive line, timed his positioning to perfection and showed that he has a natural knack for the dynamic Flick advocates.

In addition, his defensive contributions were massive, rock-solid and his physicality added a strong presence to Barcelona’s defence. His distribution, concurrently, was close to perfection.

In 90 minutes on the night, Cortes racked up eight defensive contributions, including a tackle, an interception, a blocked shot, five clearances and three recoveries.

He also won three ground duels and five air duels, all while completing 95% of his passes.

If anything, Cortes has earned a chance to start Barcelona’s two remaining games this season and prove that he is a reliable option for the long-term.

The debut could not be more promising, and Flick may have his first ‘signing’ of the summer already.