NOBARTV NEWS Barcelona suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of Osasuna in the continuation of the 2024-2025 Spanish League, although player rotation was not considered the main reason for the defeat.
This defeat also ended Barcelona's perfect winning streak of seven consecutive matches in domestic competition.
The match held at the El Sadar Stadium, Saturday (28/9/2024) or Sunday early morning Western Indonesian time, ended with a score of 4-2 for Osasuna's victory.
This is the first time Barcelona have had to bow down in La Liga this season after going through the first seven matches with perfect wins.
From the start of the match, Barcelona showed signs of difficulty.
In the first half, Osasuna managed to take the lead with two quick goals scored by Ante Budimir in the 18th minute and Bryan Zaragoza in the 28th minute.
Hansi Flick's team, who had previously been dominant in this competition, seemed to have difficulty balancing the game.
Barcelona was only able to reduce the deficit in the second half through Pau Victor's goal in the 53rd minute.
However, these efforts were not enough to stem Osasuna's aggressiveness.
The home side added two more goals, a penalty from Budimir who also recorded a brace in the 72nd minute and a beautiful long-range goal by Abel Bretones in the 85th minute.
Barcelona managed to score a consolation goal in the 89th minute through Lamine Yamal, but the score remained 4-2 until the final whistle.
This defeat was linked to Hansi Flick's decision to rotate a number of Barcelona's core players.
Compared to the previous match against Getafe, several changes were made, especially in the back line.
Flick started Sergi Dominguez and Gerard Martin at centre-back and left-back respectively.
In addition, Pedri, who was the captain in this match, played as a starter in midfield.
For the front line, Pau Victor and Ferran Torres became the tandem for Robert Lewandowski, while Lamine Yamal and Raphinha were only introduced in the second half.
However, Pedri refused to use player rotation as an excuse for his team's defeat.
The Spanish midfielder stressed that rotation is a natural thing in the tight match schedule that Barcelona has to go through.
In his interview with Diario AS, Pedri stated:
"It's normal that there are a lot of games, but that's no excuse. We have to be able to play with focus, whoever the players are."
He also added that the result in the first half was one of the factors that made it difficult for Barcelona to recover in the second half of the match.
"The result in the first half punished us. We have to be better in starting the game and taking our chances," added Pedri.
Despite the defeat, Barcelona is still at the top of the Spanish League standings with 21 points.
However, their position is now in the shadow of rival teams such as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, who could use this defeat to close in on or even overtake their position in the standings.
The result of the match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, Sunday (29/9/2024) or Monday morning WIB, is expected to greatly influence the second and third place positions in the standings.
Both Atletico and Real Madrid have the opportunity to close the gap on Barcelona, making the competition at the top of the Spanish League this season even tighter.
Barcelona must certainly recover from this defeat and improve their performance, considering that big challenges still lie ahead.
With a tight schedule, Hansi Flick and his team must be able to find the right balance between maintaining player fitness and still achieving positive results in every match.
Player rotation may remain part of the strategy, but focus and consistency of play must be the top priority if they are to maintain their position at the top of the standings.
Despite this defeat, Barcelona remains one of the favorites to win the Spanish League title this season.
However, with the competition getting tighter, they must not be careless and must immediately respond to this defeat with victory in the next matches.
