It’s an obvious statement to make, but that’s a game that Barcelona would’ve lost under Ronald Koeman.
At times there was about as much direction from the bench as the Dutchman seemed to muster, though Xavi rode his luck and eventually saw his side do enough to see the game out.
Indeed, there were large parts of Saturday night’s game that were a very tough watch indeed for Barca fans.
Play was disjointed and not at all fluid, and once the Yellow Submarine pulled one back, it appeared that the only winners, if there was to be one, would be the home side.