Former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has slammed Barcelona for their ‘incompetent’ style of play after their UEFA Champions League elimination at the hands of Spanish La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Footynaija.com reports.
The Blaugrana dominated both legs of the quarterfinal tie in terms of ball possession and chances created. However, Hansi Flick’s men failed to capitalize on their control of the game as Atletico Madrid secured a 3-2 aggregate win to end Barcelona’s dream of a first UCL triumph since 2015.
In a candid assessment of the tie during an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Mikel blamed Barcelona’s lack of a killer instinct for their inability to take advantage of their dominance over the course of the two legs.
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“A lot of FC Barcelona fans won’t like what I’m about to say, but it’s the truth. You dominated the ball the entire game just to do absolutely nothing with it, and then you shout ‘robbery’ when reality hits you.
“That wasn’t a robbery — that was you exposing yourselves by having all the possession and zero killer instinct to show for it. That ‘comeback mentality’ you love to talk about… where was it? Because when the game really needed character.
“Atlético Madrid had it. Ademola Lookman stepped up and decided the match, while Barcelona players were busy shaking hands with the referee as if he was going to change the score for them.
“They failed to come back against Atlético on two different occasions when they had to play them twice. Now they want to blame the referee for their incompetent style of play. That’s not how it works.”
Having crashed out of the Champions League as well as Copa del Rey, also at the hands of Atletico Madrid, Barcelona will now turn their full attention to the successful defense of their La Liga title.
