It’s easy to be wise after the event, but Paulinho’s performance against Chelsea very nearly backfired on Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.
Given the options at his disposal, it’s entirely understandable why the Brazilian was picked as a fourth midfielder.
An energetic disruptor, his skill set should’ve seen him right at home, but at Stamford Bridge he looked like a fish out of water for large parts of the game.
A free header wasted aside, we rarely saw the Paulinho of earlier in the season. A player who, very quickly as it turned out, shifted the weight of public opinion.
His services have been unquestionably complementary to whatever else Barca possess. And yet at Chelsea he became a nuisance, and not necessarily in a good way.
Unable to execute within certain moves, Paulinho had Lionel Messi throwing his hands up in the first half, whilst Sergio Busquets beat the ground in angry frustration when the Brazilian tackled him in the second.
Far too often he slowed what were clean, crisp passing movements and it’s hard to recall a time in the game where he opened up play to directly affect things.
His presence at set-pieces was also non-existent.
With Aleix Vidal involved, the Barca attack at least had a little more zip about it although, on the night, it was a fortuitous mistake led to the Catalans’ equaliser.
In the return, even at the Camp Nou, Valverde needs to think long and hard as to who, ultimately, plays the role handed to the midfielder last night.
Should Barca switch back to a more familiar 4-3-3, then Ousmane Dembele’s recall is almost a given, but from what we know about the youngster already, is such a game really the best one in which to bring him back from injury and, further, expect him to be able to deal with the pressure.
That, realistically leaves Vidal, Paco Alcacer, Andre Gomes or Denis Suarez.
Alcacer’s presence would force Luis Suarez wider than he would like, Gomes hasn’t yet had a 90 minutes to write home about for Barca but his physical presence would at least be a match for the west Londoners, and it’s clear that Valverde doesn’t trust Denis Suarez.
Simply put, if the coach doesn’t get it right again, then one of the favourites for the tournament will be out on their ear.
Valverde has always pulled the rabbit out of the hat to this point however, so supporters would be wise to put their trust in a man that is still on for the treble in his first season in charge.
