Oriol Romeu critical of Barcelona’s display in 2-2 draw vs Mallorca: “Giving too many chances”

Barcelona once again managed to just about survive their first defeat of the 2023/24 season as they eked out a 2-2 draw against RCD Mallorca away at Estadi Son Moix on Tuesday night.

Barcelona went behind early in the game but equalised through Raphinha, only to fall behind again just before half-time.

But a second-half equaliser from Fermin Lopez ensured that the La Liga champions did not return empty-handed from Palma.

Oriol Romeu unhappy with Barça’s performances

After the game, manager Xavi Hernandez pointed out how Barça were themselves to blame for their fate against Mallorca by making defensive mistakes.

And, midfielder Oriol Romeu agreed with his manager’s assessment, claiming that Barcelona were guilty of giving away too many chances for their opposition.

“We have suffered more than we wanted to,” admitted Oriol Romeu. “We have to improve these games in which our opponents sit back because we are giving them too many chances.”

The 32-year-old went on to stress that Barça must find a way to deal with the counterattacks of the opponent teams, as he said:

“The fact that they counter-attack so easily makes us run a lot and it takes away possession in the opposition half. We have to improve that for the next few games.”

There was a controversial moment in the second half when Barcelona thought they should have been awarded a penalty for a foul on Lamine Yamal, but it was not given despite VAR taking a look into it.

On whether the penalty should have been awarded, Romeu said: “I didn’t see the possible penalty on Lamine Yamal. If the referee didn’t call it, we have to respect him.”

Source: SPORT