Paco Alcacer on Steep Learning Curve, but Barcelona Show Grit in Gladbach Win

Paco Alcacer sprinted off the pitch in the 54th minute, job certainly not done. A slapped high-five with his replacement, Rafinha, and a wipe of sweat from his furrowed brow later, he settled down to watch Barcelona try to turn things around, 1-0 down against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Barcelona equalised 11 minutes later through Arda Turan, before going ahead when Gerard Pique found the net eight minutes after that. They held on to win the game and pick up the three points, although Alcacer will head back to Spain frustrated with his night’s work.

There will be plenty of criticism that comes his way after this game, and some of it, at least, is fair.

He failed to show for the ball and get involved enough in a first half that largely passed him by, not linking up particularly well with his team-mates.

His position didn’t seem fixed. At times, Barcelona were playing 4-3-3 like usual, with Alcacer in the injured Lionel Messi’s spot on the right; at other times, Neymar dropped deep, with Suarez and the former Valencia man playing as two centre-forwards in front of him.

This flexibility should theoretically cause opponents problems, but Barcelona looked unsure of themselves and far from their creative best on Wednesday.

This was one of a few factors that affected Alcacer’s performance—and that of the team as a whole—which were out of his control.

Alcacer has not had much game time so far, with his only start coming against Alaves in another match that saw Barcelona play badly. He was brought off after 66 minutes in that clash and lasted 12 fewer here.

Against Sporting Gijon on Saturday, he was brought on as a substitute and was unlucky not to score his first goal for the club, rattling a strike off the woodwork that Neymar turned home on the rebound.

Alcacer was also unlucky that Neymar and Suarez had particularly poor nights, although both ended up contributing to their team’s two goals.

Barcelona need those players to step up and fill Messi’s absence, and they will likely do that. However, like last season against Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla—games they played soon after the Argentinian was injured—they initially struggled without the team’s guiding star.

They weren’t helping Alcacer adapt to the team, instead trying to cope with their own struggles.

Diario Sport …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com