Former FC Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti shared his disappointment on RMC’s After Foot show about Barça’s defensive performance after their Champions League quarter-final elimination against Atlético Madrid. According to him, without those mistakes, Barcelona could have easily won the tie.
Defensive errors weighed down FC Barcelona. On Tuesday, Barcelona failed to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals despite their 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid. Although they had erased their first-leg deficit with goals from Yamal and Ferran Torres, a goal from Lookman in the 31st minute and a red card for Eric Garcia in the 79th extinguished Barcelona’s hopes.
Following the match, on RMC’s After Foot, former FC Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti expressed his disappointment at his former club’s elimination, highlighting the defense’s role in the non-qualification. The 2018 World Cup champion said, “Everyone thought Barcelona would easily beat Atlético.”
An “inadequate defense” “I’m still disappointed with this Barcelona team, especially defensively because they received two red cards in the two matches. Yes, they take risks by defending high, the defensive line is at the level of the midfield line… but you see that every time, on one action, they are late, and it costs them very dearly,” he added.
In the first leg, Barcelona had already been sanctioned with a red card after a foul by Pau Cubarsi on Giuliano Simeone. This decision led to Julian Alvarez opening the scoring with a free-kick. Umtiti believes that without these two red cards, the final result of the two-legged tie would have been different: “I think that over the two matches, if they are eleven against eleven, there is no match, and Barcelona wins both matches. I’m a little disappointed about that.”
Daniel Riolo, a member of After Foot, also criticized the defensive performance of Barcelona, stating, “Barcelona does not control the match or the emotions and has a defense that panics as soon as there is a counter-attack. They want to play even higher, press even more. When you are not strong enough, you end up making mistakes.”
By Justine Audollent with After Foot
