FC Barcelona continued in their merry ways in the Catalan derby against Espanyol last night as they secured a 3-1 victory at the Montjuic. A brace from Dani Olmo and a goal from Raphinha helped Hansi Flick’s men get one past their city rivals.
Barcelona continued their high-risk, high-reward mentality against the Catalan club, playing a high line and timing most of their offside traps to perfection. Except on one occasion when the line was breached, Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi were at their absolute best yet again.
As per SPORT, Barcelona caught Espaynol offside 6 times on the night, which included two ruled-out offside goals. Jofre was even seen celebrating by kissing his crest in front of the Blaugrana faithful, only for the linesman’s flag to go up.
This means that Barcelona continue to put up incredible numbers in terms of catching their opponents offside so far this season. With the two against Espanyol, Hansi Flick’s men have seen 13 occasions on which their opponents have scored a goal only for it to be chalked off.
Barcelona have had three goals for Villarreal, one for Monaco, two for Alaves, one for Sevilla, one for Bayern, two for Real Madrid, and two for Espanyol chalked off. These numbers are quite incredible when you consider the normal mean.
After 12 league games in La Liga so far, Barcelona have caught their opponents offside 83 times. There is a gulf between the first and second-placed teams with Osasuna (37) followed by Athletic Club (27), Las Palmas (27), and Valencia (27).
Although the jury continues to be out on the usage of VAR in the general footballing world, the system along with the semi-automated offside technology has been Hansi Flick’s Barcelona’s 12th man during games this season.
Going forward, teams will start strategizing to try and come up with a plan to counter Barcelona’s highline. Until now, it has worked like a charm, and let’s wait and see how it plays out in the season going forward.
