Two Barcelona midfielders, two contrasting performances against Celta Vigo | OneFootball

FC Barcelona let another two important points drop as they returned to La Liga action after the November international break. Although they were far from their best for almost the entirety of their match against Celta Vigo, they still came close to getting the full three points.

However, with only 10 minutes remaining in regulation time, the team made some crucial mistakes that allowed their opponents to score two goals and end the match on equal terms. While some Barcelona players endured a painful night, there were still others who managed to deliver a salvageable performance.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, this difference was most clearly observable in the performances of two players in particular, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong.

For Gavi, it was the first time he started a match for Barcelona in more than a year, as the last time he started was Barcelona was back on November 7th, 2023, in the UCL match against Shakhtar Donetsk. His last start in La Liga came on November 4th, 2023, against Real Sociedad.

Still, against Celta, Gavi showed his characteristic passion and energy from the very first minute, and his pressure clearly unnerved his opponents for a good part of the game. He also helped keep his team in control as he completed 46 passes, 12 of which were given in the final third, and matched other players like Pedri, Casado, and Olmo in this regard.

On the other hand, De Jong was quite unorganized in this game, and with a clear lack of confidence, the Dutchman struggled to understand his role in the team. Thus, he contributed very little to the game, getting on the ball only 12 times and making only 8 successful passes in the quarter of an hour that he spent on the pitch.

This was another poor game from the Barcelona midfielder, and Flick is reportedly already worried about him. The Dutchman can learn from Gavi and be more confident about his importance to the team, but it remains to be seen whether he will return to his best level in the coming weeks.