IN SPORT.ES
It was another disappointing result, if not as painful and damaging as the 3-1 defeat by Levante in La Liga at the weekend.
Ernesto Valverde spoke of a reaction but Barcelona offered no such bounce back against Slavia Prague.
Sure, they should have won. They had chances. Lionel Messi hit the woodwork and was denied by a brilliant Ondrej Kolar save, while Arturo Vidal has a goal ruled out for offside.
But this was not enough. Barcelona should have beaten the Czech minnows convincingly, not shared a nervy draw.
They stay top of Group F regardless of the result of Inter’s clash at Borussia Dortmund, but that should not offer much consolation when they play like this.
Solar made a great stop to keep out Gerard Pique’s header too, but the defender struggled and saw his ninth yellow card of the season in the first half.
Jan Boril struck before half-time for Slavia but it was correctly ruled out for offside, just as Vidal’s goal was after the interval.
This was the first time Messi has gone two consecutive games without scoring in the Champions League at Camp Nou since April 2015, and that is no coincidence.
He is not being offered much support by those around him.
When Ansu Fati replaced the disappointing Ousmane Dembele, he finally did have some service but could not finish from the youngster’s cross.