Barca 4-0 Monchengladbach: 5 Things We Learned

Every Culer worldwide is happy about the result last night after Barça demolished Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 at the Camp Nou, but aside from that, it was the team’s performance that was the biggest thing to be joyous about as it’s been a very long time since the club put up such complete performance.

The entire team played at a top level, great understanding and link ups between players, the performance surely is one of the best since Luis Enrique took over. Here are 5 lessons we took from the emphatic victory at the Camp Nou.

1. ARDA TURAN IS A LEFT-WINGER AND SHOULDN’T BE PLAYED ANYWHERE ELSE
So far this season, only Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez have scored more goals than Arda Turan among the entire Barça squad. After an unconvincing first season, Arda looks to have rediscovered himself and is having a very good season.. only when played in the position he only looks good at, left wing. The Turk has been near disastrous almost every time he’s deployed as a midfielder, I don’t think he’s ever put up a good performance in that position since joining.. sometimes, Lucho plays his as a right-winger which also doesn’t work out but whenever the bearded man is played in that Neymar position he brings a lot to the team, his hat-trick and an assist on Wednesday night says a lot, he was also great in preseason there and also in the Super Cup.. he’ll make a good Neymar backup only if Luis Enrique realise and accept the fact that he is nothing close to being a Barça type of midfielder, or a right-winger, or anywhere else that is not the left-wing forward.

2. ALEIX VIDAL IS PURE QUALITY
Maybe it’s not right to decide things like this after just one perfect performance, but it is possible to use just one to see how a player who’s been going through a hard time recently fares after not playing for a long time. Vidal showed great class against Borussia Monchengladbach, bossing that right flank. His understanding with Denis Suárez is superb and he looked to be the most intelligent among all Barça fullbacks.

I don’t know if he’s having off-the-pitch issues with the manager but that seems to be the most likely case as a player of his quality shouldn’t go so long without being utilised. He deserves to play more and if he keeps on giving this kind of displays at all time then there wouldn’t be any problems.

3. INIESTA IS THE HEART OF BARÇA’S FOOTBALL
So far this season, Barça have played their best football since the second half of the Clásico down to the final whistle of the game on Wednesday and this was due to the presence of Don Andrés in that midfield. Barça clearly missed him during his time on the sideline and it’s quite fascinating how he turns out to be one of our most important players despite his age. He’ll continue to play at a high level for so long, hope injuries doesn’t kick in.

4. ANDRÉ GOMES CAN BE BUSQUETS 2.0
It’s like defensive midfield is André Gomes’ best position. Most times when he plays as a RCM or a LCM he looks to be out of position on many occasions, but so far, the few times he’s been deployed as a DM in that Busquets role he’s played it better than anyone else who is not Busquets in years. His movement and ball circulation against Borussia Monchengladbach was top class, passing was perfect and he looked more composed and comfortable in that role than anywhere else and it’s a good thing as he could ease the burden off Sergio Busquets. He played his best game in a Barça shirt last night.

5. DENIS SUÁREZ CAN GIVE IVAN RAKITIC A FIGHT
It may sound funny or like a meme but the idea that Barça played free flowing football last night only because Rakitic was replaced by Denis is valid. All due respect to Rakitic, he offers a lot, especially in defence, but one reason Barça have been quite meagre recently after Dani Alves left is the rigidity of our right side as it lacks fluidity and creativity, something Denis brought last night. Denis and Vidal’s understanding was far greater than what we’ve seen from Roberto-Rakitic in a long time. All Denis needs is to be more consistent, which needs him to play more.. it will be nice to see him play more in that RCM role, he was superb, and has been.