If Barcelona wants to silence those who criticize them for a lack of spirit in the past UEFA Champions League editions, now's the time to do so.
The Blaugrana side claimed a one-all draw against Napoli despite falling behind 1-0 before the break, but the main problems for Los Blaugranas came during the second half, and it could get even worse before they host Gattuso's men at Camp Nou on March 18.
The first problem for Setién came when Sergio Busquets was booked. The Spanish midfielder picked up a third yellow card and has been banned from the return leg. That could have gone by like old news, but Arturo Vidal lost his cool during the final moments of the game, and ref Felix Brych showed him two yellow cards in less than 10 seconds, sending him off.
Vidal's red card highlighted a major problem for Barcelona, according to a couple of tweets by stats expert Mister Chip.
"What are you doing, Arturo Vidal! You must have gone mad to fall into that game, when you know they want you to get a second booking. Barcelona will have 12 professional players available for the second leg. Dantesque!"
Pero que haces, Arturo Vidal!!! Hay que tener pocas luces para entrar en esa provocación cuando sabes que que te están provocando para que te saquen la segunda amarilla. El Barcelona solo tendrá 12 fichas profesionales disponibles para el partido de vuelta. Dantesco.
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) February 25, 2020
The Spanish analyst added one more tweet naming all the players that are available at the moment for Los Culés to prove his point.
"First team players (jerseys 1-25) available to play the second leg at Camp Nou."
Jugadores de la primera plantilla (dorsales 1-25) disponibles para jugar contra el Napoli en el Camp Nou:
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) February 25, 2020
1 Ter Stegen
2 Semedo
3 Piqué
4 Rakitic
8 Arthur
10 Messi
13 Neto
15 Lenglet
17 Griezmann
21 De Jong
23 Umtiti
24 Junior Firpo
Nadie más.
But Barcelona's worries don't end there. As time expired, Gerard Piqué picked up what seems to be a nasty ankle injury, and he could also miss the return leg at Camp Nou.
Luis Suárez and Ousmané Dembelé are out for the rest of the season. Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberti have just picked up injuries which make their return questionable, and new signing Martin Braithwaite is not allowed to play in the UEFA Champions League. See why this is the time for those that are available to prove themselves worthy of playing for the Spanish giants?