There's no stopping this mess: the hot notes from Bruges-Barça

BarcelonaBarcelona drew 3-3 away to Club Brugge in the Champions League. Lamine Yamal saved the Blaugrana from an even worse night in Europe's premier club competition. Here are some immediate observations.

The lightning result. Barça ended up drawing, but they could have lost – thanks, VAR – and they could also have won – what a shame about the woodwork. Flick's team has surrendered to chance in a context marked by injuries and deficiencies that turn last season's infallible plan into a crude replica of an AliExpress sale. The Blaugrana combine elements that can turn any chaotic situation to their advantage with sins that can condemn them in an instant. They beat Girona and Elche at home, in two matches that could have ended in draws; they recorded the most deceptive thrashing of the century against Olympiacos, and they failed to recover in Belgium, where they almost left with zero points. Without Pedri and Raphinha, they need to find another way to cope.

It's normal that Flick gets worked up. Barça's lack of intensity off the ball remains alarming. With very little, Bruges, a fairly average team, scored two goals in just 17 minutes. When opposing passers have time to think, the high defensive line is vulnerable in any situation. And if the first foul is committed after the half-hour mark, everything becomes even more difficult. Survival will be a long struggle without key players if Flick isn't able to reverse such worrying symptoms as the 2-1 goal, scored by Forbs after a favorable corner. Only one Barça player was watching the Belgians' potential counter-attack. The rest were just watching. In short.

Dribbling through pubalgia. It can be said without hesitation – Flick himself acknowledges this – that Lamine Yamal plays football hampered by injury. With a supra-abdominal groin injury diagnosed weeks ago and an age (18) that still indicates muscle and bone growth, it wouldn't be advisable for him to always start, especially when the demands of the game force him to play every minute. But the young man from Maresme is exceptional in this respect as well. In Bruges, in a match marked by disarray, he not only played through discomfort again, but he was an unstoppable force. Faced with the collective debacle, his brilliant individual brilliance saved Barça from ridicule.

There is no doubt about the center back of the future. In matches where the opponent plays a deep defensive line, like the one Bruges employed, a center-back with good ball distribution like Cubarsí is far more effective than a physically imposing marker like Araujo. Flick had to leave the player from Estanyol on the bench because he's still carrying the same injury that sidelined him against Elche. He's not at the same level as last year, partly because he misses Iñigo Martínez's presence, but he's potentially the best-prepared center-back in the squad, and the one with the brightest future. Therefore, when he's fully fit, there should be no doubt about Cubarsí, who should be the leader of the defense for the next decade.