#attacking-struggles

#attacking-struggles

In the first 45 minutes, particularly, Barca's attack wasn't anywhere close to being on the front foot. Aside from a handful of brief flashes from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, there really wasn't anything to get excited about before the official blew his whistle for half-time. Robert Lewandowski may as well not have been there, and the profligacy from the two wide men and Fermin Lopez against what is a mid-table Premier League side was just not good enough.

I think the defensive side of things has been a strength at times but in recent weeks that's gone out the window, they've been conceding goals for fun. In their last five games it's been at least two goals every game but what do you put that down to? And how hard is that going to be for him to turn around a team that this year is not scoring anywhere near enough when you look at some of the teams they are up against.

A very disappointing first half from a Barça perspective. The attack was slow and predictable, with safe passing and very little movement up front. The closest they came to scoring was a shot by Fermín López that was blocked inside the box and a long-distance effort by Gerard Martín that forced a good save out of the Frankfurt goalkeeper. Other than that, pretty much nothing.