A horrible night, but one that needed to happen.

Tonight's game was probably the poorest Barça display since the opening game of last season. Several key mistakes were made which contributed to an overall terrible performance.

Firstly, the team selection was just plain wrong. Sometimes Pep's confidence in his players backfires, as it was evident that Marquez was not up to the task, and should have been substituted off at half time. Rafa lacked pace, had a poor touch, and didn't show the distribution which he became renowned for. Clearly, he isn't fit, and Puyol should have started instead.

Secondly, I once again assert that Pedro was not the correct choice. Whilst Bojan did make an appearance, he was never given the same time to settle into the game that Pedro was by being started. 

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the way in which Barça played, the winning formula which gave us the treble, seemed to be abandoned tonight. Gone was the excellent midfield distributions to the forwards in wide areas, where Messi and his counter-part on the other side could either cut inside, or opt for the pass to the overlapping fullback on the outside. 

Instead, the ball was constantly played through the middle, and the forwards moved in too much, making the midfield cramped and frankly providing some horribly sloppy moments which aren't expected from this team. Often this lead to a perfect counter-attacking opportunity for Rubin, which they capitalised on brilliantly on two occasions. 

Indeed, if not for a stellar performance from Toure Yaya, Rubin could have had double the shots on goal they did. The Ivorian put in an excellent display, solid in possession and determined to win the ball back. The only honorable mentions of the game go to him and Xavi, both of whom seemed to be trying to salvage the result for the team. Iniesta had flashes of brilliance, but again, the congested midfield never helped his cause. Likewise, Ibra's goal was well taken, but was only one moment of brilliance in an otherwise lackluster performance.

This result needed to happen, if ever Pep needed confirmation that he should stick to his winning formula, then he's been given it. Hopefully Henry returns to fitness soon, as I don't think Pep's insistence on playing Pedro is going to work to our benefit. None the less, we must brush ourselves off and move on, learn from a poor performance and get back to winning ways at the weekend.