Looking at Barcelona’s performance against Osasuna in their Spanish Super Cup semi-final as a whole, large portions were again not really good enough for this club.
There are standards that should be set and they are not being met on a weekly basis at present.
To dismiss the 2-0 victory as a lucky win would be somewhat disingenuous, however.
The team from Pamplona rarely threatened and even when they did, Barca’s defence and Inaki Pena were generally up to the task.
Plaudits for the night should really be reserved for Ilkay Gundogan, however.
The German has often found himself on the end of some pretty harsh criticism from culers this season, though his stats from Thursday’s game bear witness to a fine showing from the midfielder.