Three takeaways for Hansi Flick from Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta | UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

Barcelona led twice against Atalanta last night in the final round of the UEFA Champions League group stage and were in the driver’s seat to finish first in the standings.

However, they conceded on both occasions, allowing the Serie A side to equalise and take a point home at the full-time whistle.

Credit where it is due, Atalanta were the more inspired of the two teams at Montjuic, simply because they needed the win more badly. They had a dream to qualify directly to the Round of 16 but eventually fell just short as they earned just a point.

For Barcelona, Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo were on the scoresheet and the manager will not look too deeply into the result given that it was never the priority.

Barça Universal brings you three takeaways for Hansi Flick from Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta.

A draw that doesn’t mean much

Lamine Yamal was on the scoresheet against Atalanta. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

After six straight wins in the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona settled for a 2-2 draw against Atalanta on the final match day of the league stage of the competition.

The Catalans were firmly in second place on the standings given their comfortable goal difference and the only objective they could possibly aim for on the night was to overtake Liverpool should they drop points.

Indeed, the Premier League giants did fall to a 2-3 defeat against PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona would have taken the first place with a win last night.

Yet, there is not much to rue about when one considers the broader scheme of things as finishing first provides no advantage over finishing in second place.

Both Barcelona and Liverpool will now enter opposite halves of the draw and can only meet in a potential final. The rest of the draw, largely, will not be affected by the teams placed first and second and the Catalans’ path to a potential finale is thus unaffected.

Implications going forward

Barcelona finished second in the UCL group stage. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Having finished in the top 2 of the league stage standings, Barcelona and Liverpool will face one of the four teams placed between 15th to 18th based on the draw and playoff result.

Those four teams will now be drawn against each other, with PSG and Benfica taking on either Monaco or Brest respectively and the winners of each playoff proceeding to the Round of 16.

For starters, Hansi Flick and Co. will be pleased to have avoided the giants in Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the next round, especially given that it looked extremely plausible ahead of kickoff.

More interesting, however, is the fact that Barcelona faced and defeated three of the four potential knockout opponents in the league phase. The only team they did not meet of the four was PSG.

Further, the draw ensures that Barcelona avoid the likes of Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Arsenal until a potential semifinal.

Up until then, their only possible formidable opponents include Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, PSG and Aston Villa.

Szczesny’s mixed night

Wojciech Szczesny had a mixed game. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

A lot can be said about the individual performances of the players donning garnet and blue last night.

The Catalans lacked a sense of urgency in the first half, came out much better after the break but did not press with their all at any point on the night.

One player whose performance has seriously come under the radar, however, is Wojciech Szczesny and ironically so given that Hansi Flick only made his decision to prefer the Polish shot-stopper ahead of last night’s clash.

Szczesny did indeed come up with some clutch saves against Atalanta to keep Barcelona in the game during the first half. His reflexes were impressive as was his raw shot-stopping ability.

His comfort on the ball and distribution, however, were highly worrisome and not for the first time. As a Barcelona goalkeeper, having composure in possession may well be more important than shot-stopping ability.

Szczesny looked shaky on the ball from the get-go, struggled to play out from the back and often gave the ball away cheaply through his distribution. He did not look composed under the press of the Atalanta forwards one bit and questions must be raised.

His performance last night has brought fans out calling for the return of Inaki Pena, who may not be as much of a clutch shot-stopper but a massive upgrade in terms of ball-playing ability. It remains to be seen where Flick stands on this topic.