Champions League
More than just a class difference: The Young Boys have no chance in Barcelona and lose 0-5
The Young Boys go down in Barcelona. They lose the Champions League game with a despondent performance.
Different emotional states: Filip Ugrinic (left) is served, Iñigo Martínez celebrates.
Alejandro Garcia / EPA
The Bernese football world is currently between bottom of the table and reaching for the stars. In the domestic league, the Young Boys are in eleventh place and in the Champions League they are up against the best in Europe. YB is currently trying to achieve a balancing act that is impossible.
This is clearly evident on this night in Barcelona. The stars of the Catalan top team scored no fewer than five goals against the Young Boys. And that’s only because the many young talents slow down the pace a bit towards the end of the game.
After this game, it would be presumptuous to just talk about a class difference. After this performance, the students of Barcelona would have to skip several classes, the young boys would remain seated. As with the 3-0 initial defeat against Aston Villa, YB still lacks proof that it can keep up in the Champions League.
Barcelona are also superior by standards
Starting with a defensive idea, the Bernese can only keep a zero for eight minutes on the scoreboard of the Olympic Stadium, where Barcelona is playing during the renovation of the Camp Nous. Then the highly gifted Lamine Yamal and Raphinha combine in such a way that Robert Lewandowski only has to push in to take the lead. Even before the break, Hansi Flick’s team showed that they were clearly superior to the Young Boys when it came to standards. After a quickly taken corner, Pedri comes to a conclusion that is still blocked, Raphinha then scores with a powerful shot to make it 2-0 in the 34th minute. The third and fourth goals also come from a standard. After a free kick from Pedri, Iñigo Martínez nods off. After the break, Robert Lewandowski scores again from a corner. And the fifth goal shows once again how weak Bern’s defense is at the moment. After a cross from the left, Mohamed Ali Camara looks bad and directs the ball into his own goal. Even Marvin Keller, who was given preference in the YB goal over David von Ballmoos, cannot do anything about the goal.
As tough as the result is for the Young Boys this evening in Barcelona, it makes sense. Apart from two small slip-ups – the defeats against Monaco and Osasuna – the Flick team is currently on a high. Barcelona leads “La Liga” as leaders. Things are completely different for the Swiss champion. Patrick Frame’s team has only won a single league game in the tranquil Super League after eight rounds. It is understandable that this quality is not enough on the international stage. Especially against the outstanding prodigy Lamine Yamal, the technically brilliant Pedri or the accurate Robert Lewandowski.
Nevertheless, YB missed doing something for morale that evening. At a time when the team is dragging itself from defeat to defeat, a courageous performance could have made a difference in terms of morale. But as it is, even a magical Champions League evening becomes a tedious chore. Now YB is challenged in the league again. The opponent on Sunday also wears red and blue and is again an FCB. But in Basel the Young Boys have to deliver a positive result.
