The victory against FC Porto was an essential one for FC Barcelona given the nature of the Champions League. Not a pretty win, but a win and three points nonetheless ensure that Barcelona now leads Group H with six points achieved from a possible total of six points.
However, there is no denying that Xavi’s men suffered a great deal against the Portuguese side. Porto was resilient, intense, and unrelenting in their pursuit of keeping Barcelona under pressure and unable to play their ideal brand of football.
The person who arguably suffered the most, however, was Barca’s pivot, Oriol Romeu. As highlighted by Spanish outlet SPORT, Romeu in particular struggled against the pressure and positioning of Porto and could not make himself look reliable at all.
Worst Barcelona performer
Losing possession eleven times, a significantly dangerous number given the area in which he plays on the field, Romeu was frustrating to watch on the night. Despite the fact that he improved as the game progressed, this was arguably his worst performance thus far for Barcelona as per SPORT.
The midfielder was struggling so much that fellow Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gundogan had to drop deep and help out. In the moments when Gundogan reached out as the central focus in the pivot position, the game flowed almost perfectly.
Gundogan shows how it’s done
This, in turn, showcased that performing as a pivot against Porto could be done in a much better fashion. While Romeu looked stagnant and slow to react, Gundogan knew exactly which pass to pick out no matter how much pressure Porto managed to pile up on him.
Perhaps the questionable performances from Oriol Romeu could be attributed to the absence of Frenkie De Jong. With the Dutchman present, the 31-year-old would ideally not have to worry about progressive play as De Jong would mainly sort that problem out himself with his technical brilliance and passing vision.
Can not afford mistakes
Despite the reasons, Xavi does not want an excuse. Playing at the highest level demands consistency and excellence, something that Romeu will seriously need to keep track of. The season is long and so is the list of aspirations for Barcelona, continuous mistakes will cost them undoubtedly, and Xavi will want to ensure they do not make any unnecessary ones.
