Five talking points from Barcelona’s defeat against Getafe

Ronald Koeman had gotten off to a good start with two wins and a draw in his first three games in charge, but Saturday’s defeat showed he has a lot of work to do at the Camp Nou.

The Dutch coach rotated his starting eleven a bit with the entry of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Sergino Dest, while we also got to see Riqui Puig at the end.

However, Koeman admitted after the game that “it wasn’t good enough today” and he was also right. The team struggled to create chances and offered little response to falling behind on a rather light penalty.

The coach tried to change things by incorporating Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Puig and even Martin Braithwaite, but it didn’t work either and Getafe wasted chances to extend their lead.

Some really tough games await us in the coming weeks, and Koeman will be aware that big improvements are needed for Barça to beat Madrid and Juve.

Photo by David S. Bustamante / Soccrates / Getty Images

There were some positives from Saturday’s game and the most important was surely the performance of 17-year-old Pedri in his first La Liga outing for Barcelona.

The teenager showed no signs of nerves, sporting a class act with the ball and preparing Antoine Griezmann for an opportunity the Frenchman really should have buried in the first half.

Pedri did not appear to be bothered at all by Getafe’s physical approach and received praise from Koeman after the match, who said it showed “that he has the quality to play for Barcelona.”

Koeman already seems to have a lot of faith in Pedri, and with this evidence we can expect to see a lot more of the teenager this season.

Photo by David S. Bustamante / Soccrates / Getty Images

Speaking of teens and debuts, there was also a first outing for Sergino Dest, who placed well on the left side in place of the injured Jordi Alba.

The 19-year-old enjoyed a decent full debut and seemed to enjoy his duel with the combative Allan Nyom.

Dest showed enough to suggest that he could continue as a left back instead of re-fitting Junior Firpo while Alba is out, even though his preferred position is on the opposite flank.

Photo by David S. Bustamante / Soccrates / Getty Images

While the teens offered a lot of optimism for the future, it turned out to be another difficult night for Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Dembélé finally in the starting eleven, and for the first time in 11 months, but the lack of games really showed on Saturday.

Dembélé lost too many balls, it seemed that he was holding back at times (and who can blame him after so many injuries) and finally he gave way to Ansu Fati in the hour.

The Frenchman’s lack of form can be explained by his lack of playing time, while Griezmann has no excuse to have problems again despite playing central.

Indeed, the World Cup winner had a great opportunity when he was clean and has yet to score this season for Barca. The question now is will Koeman keep faith in him?

Photo by David S. Bustamante / Soccrates / Getty Images

At Barcelona it will not have gone unnoticed that one of the brightest players on Saturday’s pitch was a certain Marc Cucurella.

The 22-year-old seemed to thrive against his former team, showing all the intensity that the visitors lacked in his game at times.

Cucurella has already made it clear that he feels he never had a proper opportunity at Barcelona before being sold to Getafe to help balance the books.

Jord Alba was the main reason why Cucurella did not get minutes at the Camp Nou, but these days he usually plays higher and you can’t help wondering what could have been.