{"id":3677,"date":"2025-11-26T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weisetech.dev\/fc-barcelona-noticias\/en\/kounde-and-balde-outplayed-against-chelsea-and-far-from-their-level_315342_102\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:28:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:28:47","slug":"kounde-and-balde-outplayed-against-chelsea-and-far-from-their-level_315342_102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fcbarcelonanoticias.com\/en\/champions-league\/kounde-and-balde-outplayed-against-chelsea-and-far-from-their-level_315342_102.html","title":{"rendered":"Bar\u00e7a has a serious problem on the wings: Kound\u00e9 and Balde, far from their best form"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kound\u00e9 and Balde had a night to forget at Stamford Bridge. Both were outplayed by Chelsea’s forwards and, in the Frenchman’s case, he even scored an own goal<\/h2> \r\n
\r\n \r\n \r\n Calendar of FC Barcelona <\/a>\r\n<\/div>

Defense has been the weak point of Hansi Flick<\/strong>‘s Barcelona<\/strong> in 2025\/26. The Catalan team has conceded 25 goals in 18 games<\/strong>, 10 of them in 5 Champions League matchdays. Against Chelsea, all four of the Blaugrana defenders had a night to forget, with Ronald Araujo<\/a> being the main one singled out for his expulsion before halftime.<\/p>

However, **Jules Kound\u00e9** and **Alejandro Balde** also had a forgettable match at Stamford Bridge. **The Frenchman scored an own goal in the 27th minute** while trying to clear a shot from Pedro Neto with an empty net. The ’23’ stumbled with the ball, which finally ended up between Ferran Torres’ legs after several unusual bounces.<\/p>

Kound\u00e9 and Balde, exposed in Chelsea’s three goals<\/h2>

In the play preceding Kound\u00e9’s own goal, **Balde was caught out after a corner kick in Chelsea’s favor**. The number ‘3’ left his flank unprotected, allowing Marc Cucurella to break free with ease and deliver the low cross that led to the first ‘blue’ goal.<\/p>

In the second half, Jules continued to have a very tough time in the one-on-one against Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>. The Argentinians found it very easy to attack down the left, with each of them managing a couple of assists. Garnacho’s, however, was disallowed for offside.<\/p>

\"A
A blurred and outmatched Barcelona is thrashed by Chelsea (3-0)<\/div> <\/div> <\/div>

\u00c1lex, for his part, was once again left behind in the play that led to the Londoners’ 2-0 goal<\/strong>. After a turnover by Frenkie de Jong, Estevao received a pass from Reece James that left him one-on-one with Pau Cubars\u00ed. After dribbling past the center-back, the Brazilian unleashed a very powerful right-footed shot that beat Joan Garc\u00eda.<\/p>

Balde couldn’t lend a hand to the ‘5’, who also didn’t have his night at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had 13 shots, 5 of them on target and had 3 goals disallowed for offside<\/strong>. Joan Garc\u00eda made 3 saves, meaning the scoreline could have been much more lopsided for a Bar\u00e7a that, once again, was clearly outplayed at the back.<\/p>

Flick could give his full-backs a ‘talking-to’ in LaLiga<\/h2>

The defensive problems stem, fundamentally, from timing errors when setting the offside trap<\/strong>, as well as failures in passing to facilitate clean build-up play. High pressing has also not worked, nor has the retreat to deal with counter-attacks from long balls, which often catch Kound\u00e9 and Balde out of position on their flanks<\/p>

Both the French and Catalan players have considerably lowered their level this season, contributing little in attack (they only have 3 assists between them)<\/strong>, in addition to conceding too much space in individual duelsAgainst Chelsea, Jules only recovered 2 balls<\/strong>, although he won 6 out of 8 individual duels. \u00c1lex, for his part, had a passing accuracy of 80% (24\/30)<\/strong>, a low percentage compared to the reliability of Kound\u00e9’s (92%) and Cubars\u00ed’s (90%) passing.<\/p>

Hansi Flick could return **Eric Garc\u00eda** to the right side and give minutes to **Gerard Mart\u00edn** on the left against Alav\u00e9s<\/a>, as a wake-up call for two undisputed starters who, without a doubt, must raise their level in the coming weeks for Bar\u00e7a to stop suffering so much at the back<\/p>