'It's not something to celebrate' - Joan Garcia rejects Man of the Match label as Barcelona goalkeeper rages at last-gasp defeat to Girona

After shaking off the disappointment of Lamine Yamal's first-half penalty miss, Barcelona manged to take the lead on the hour mark when young defender Pau Cubarsi found the net. However, the lead lasted just two minutes as Thomas Lemar struck to pull Girona level as the hosts stepped up their intensity. Garcia pulled off many saves to prevent his side from falling behind, but Fran Beltran managed to find a way through with less than five minutes left, giving the minnows a shock lead. Despite a late red card for the home side, they were able to hold out for the win.

While Garcia’s individual brilliance was the sole reason Barcelona remained in the contest until the dying moments, the 24-year-old was scathing in his assessment of the team's defensive shape. He flatly rejected the praise accompanying his performance, making it clear that a high save count is a symptom of a much larger structural malaise under Flick rather than a badge of honour.

“We are conceding way too many chances; we concede too easily,” he lamented, clearly frustrated by the lack of protection from his backline. “My many saves are not a good thing. It’s not something to celebrate if I have to make that many saves.”

He continued: “I think we need to improve. We need to analyse. We have a week without a midweek match. That will give us time to analyse things properly and work on them. With a cool head, we’ll try to improve. It looks a bit better from the back. We press well from a set position. When we lose the ball, we need to cut off plays and commit fouls in the opponent’s half. They commit fouls against us.”

The match was shrouded in controversy in the final minutes when Beltran struck the decisive blow. Barcelona players were convinced that Jules Kounde had been fouled by Claudio Echeverri during the build-up, but the goal was remarkably allowed to stand without a pitchside review. Garcia was left stunned by the lack of VAR intervention.

He told the media: “I didn’t see Kounde‘s play clearly live. Then I saw the replay and for me, it was a foul. Jules got to the ball first. I think it was a foul. What’s surprising is that they didn’t call the referee to the monitor. The referee can make mistakes. It’s surprising that they didn’t even ask the official to review it on the screen. These things happen. We can’t control it, so we have to move on.”

It could have been a very different story for the visitors had they taken their chances in a frantic first half. Barcelona dominated the shot count but lacked the clinical edge required to kill off the contest. Yamal, usually the hero for the Blaugrana, had an evening to forget as he hit the post from the penalty spot after Dani Olmo was fouled.

Despite his typical swagger and 27 total team shots, Barca only found the net once through Cubarsi's header. The defender later reflected on the missed opportunity, saying: “Everyone has seen it, I’m not going to comment. People have seen what happened. We couldn’t do anything from the inside, but we shouldn’t pick on the referee; we also have to improve ourselves. We were lacking a bit of everything, we have to be self-critical. It wasn’t a great game. We have to improve, recharge our batteries, we have a long week ahead of us.”

Flick now faces a tactical identity crisis as he seeks the right defensive balance for a title charge. While Gerard Martin showed promise on the left, the overall structural integrity of the backline remains porous. The manager must decide whether Joao Cancelo or Kounde offers the best stability on the right, especially after seeing the team give up high-quality chances to a Girona side that sat 15th in the table before kick-off.

The fallout from the Catalan derby leaves Barcelona with plenty of soul-searching to do before they face Levante on Sunday. The demand at a club of this stature is to maintain the optimum level every week, yet too many stars are currently performing below standard. For Barcelona, the focus must shift back to the training ground, as another slip-up could see Real Madrid disappear over the horizon.