Three talking points from Barcelona’s draw versus Espanyol

The year ended on a sour note for Barcelona following their disappointing draw at home against Espanyol in the Catalan Derby.

Despite going ahead in the match, the home team were unable to finish the game off, allowing the visitors to stay in the match and Espanyol managed to take advantage of it.

Here are three talking points from the draw:

Barcelona’s inability to kill the game comes back to haunt them

One of the calling cards for Barcelona since Xavi Hernandez took over is not being able to put a game away. Far too often this season, the Catalan side takes the lead but can’t add to it with the opposition either finding an equalizer or the Blaugrana scrambling on defense until the end of the game.

The former happened against Espanyol and even then, Barcelona had a couple of opportunities to retake the lead.

“The draw is our fault,” Xavi said after the game. “We’ve slowed down. We didn’t kill off the game.”

They also had ample opportunities to increase their lead prior to the equalizer.

Counting on Robert Lewandowski was an added boost heading into the game but he squandered his chances as well. It was an off day for practically the whole team. An inopportune time to happen as they now find themselves level with Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga table.

Barcelona misery made worse by refereeing controversy

Mateu Lahoz picked up where he left off in the World Cup, brandishing cards left and right for both teams until finally sending off Jordi Alba late in the second half.

Much of the talk is going to focus on the decisions made by Lahoz. Particularly the penalty call and later on reversing his decision to send off the Espanyol player who stepped on the shoulder/head of Lewandowski.

In essence, he lost control of the game.

While he did lose control of the game, Barcelona certainly played into his hands. They ended up being their own worst enemies.

Alba unnecessarily picked up both yellow cards. The first one came following the penalty where, for some reason, he took exception to the way the Espanyol players celebrated. The second one came following a foul and he said something to Lahoz as Barcelona was preparing the wall.

Lahoz is not new on the scene. Everyone knows how he can get and at that point he had gone full Lahoz. Alba, with all his experience, should have known better. The problem is this isn’t out of character for the left-back who has a propensity for letting his emotions get the better of him.

Again, someone of his experience should be above it and now he’s going to miss a crucial match next week against Atletico Madrid.

Xavi’s substitutes do more harm than good

Since his arrival, Xavi has managed to slowly get Barcelona back to their identity. Despite having issues putting games away, they’ve managed to wrestle control late in games when needed. It’s still a balancing act but there are improvements.

What is leaving cause for concern is his in-game decisions rarely seem to work out.

Barcelona started the game with Ansu Fati and Raphinha on the wings. Neither impressed much and were yanked early in the second half in place of Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Torres. They didn’t do much either and Barcelona didn’t look any better with their inclusion.

The same could be said for Sergio Busquets with the caveat being he replaced the injured Gavi.

Regardless, that his substitutes only serve to destabilize the team should be worrying for Xavi. A large part of the blame should fall on the players but Xavi is the one who continues to place faith in them.

For those who may say he doesn’t have better options, it’s not always about the name of the player. He could have brought on Memphis Depay instead of Dembele or Torres. He could have also brought on Franck Kessie instead of Busquets. He should have taken out Alba for Balde after the former picked up his first yellow.

In a sense, it’s easy to see why Xavi keeps turning to certain players. Torres was key in their win against Osasuna and Dembele has the potential to single-handedly change a match. But placing your faith on hope is a risky proposition and it didn’t work out.

Fortunately for the manager and his team is they still sit in first place despite blowing the chance to end the year alone at the top.

He also gets an opportunity midweek to see what he has in other players as Barcelona start their journey in the Copa del Rey away to Intercity.