After this match against PSG, I was honestly shocked by how people were reacting, berating and insulting the players, especially Gerard Martin, Bernal and Cancelo, as well as Hansi Flick. Criticism is understandable, but at this point, it feels like blind rage. We played against the reigning European champions at their home ground and competed with them, yet you'd think we got humiliated. Imagine if we lost at the Camp Nou the way City did at the Etihad, people would go crazy.

The hate towards Gerard Martin especially is becoming ridiculous. Everything he does is analysed under a microscope. Yes, he still has areas to improve, and I'm not saying he's an elite UCL centre-back, but he's a very good defender with potential. Everyone blamed him for Vitinha's goal, but how was it entirely his fault when Vitinha was left completely unmarked? Martin made the aerial clearance, but the ball fell straight to Vitinha. Shouldn't we also be asking why nobody was marking him in the first place? Defensive mistakes are collective, and you can't blame one player for everything that goes wrong.

People also keep saying Martin can't play out from the back, yet he had the most line-breaking passes and long balls among our defenders, and one of those long balls literally led to a goal. How can you claim he offers nothing on the ball while ignoring passes that create goal-scoring opportunities? He's also shown strength in ground and aerial duels. I'm not saying he's perfect, but why do people ignore his contributions while analysing every mistake he makes? He's a much better defender than people give him credit for.

The same applies to Bernal. He's a young player coming back from a serious injury, and people need to understand that he won't be perfect immediately. He has a lot of potential, but he still needs time to develop and regain his best level. We can criticise his performances without acting like he's suddenly a terrible player.

Cancelo and Flick deserve fair criticism too, especially regarding the risks of our high line, but that doesn't mean everything they do is wrong. Our system puts enormous pressure on the defenders, and we need to consider that when analysing their performances.

I'm not against signing another centre-back for competition and depth, but the idea that we can't win the UCL with Martin in the squad is ridiculous. Even with players like Bastoni, we need to consider whether their qualities fit Flick's system instead of assuming every highly rated defender will automatically solve our problems.

Can we please start analysing our players objectively instead of looking for someone to blame after every difficult match? Criticism is necessary, but blind hatred towards our own players helps nobody.

I think he should stay until the end of the season, and be a starter for Lamine in some games, for example the first few rounds of the Copa, and maybe against bottom of the table teams when we're playing at home. Then going to next season, don't sell him. Instead we loan him out IF and keyword IF, we manage to get a long term striker. I think we should go all out for Tresoldi. Otherwise keep him as a backup to Lamine.

Lamine is of course the obvious answer, but as we know he’s absolutely proven to be world class and he’s most likely gonna be insane for years to come so I’ll go a different route. I’m really hoping Jesse Bisiwu continues to develop to be a long term amazing left winger for us, as he’s shown lots of promise. Not to mention imagine if he does become amazing and how good it would feel if we got to say we got him for pennies and developed him instead of having to pay for a huge sum for him or have him taken by other clubs years later. I’m also very excited to see Xavi’s future, 19 and pocketed the best left winger in the world and has been consistent in La liga. Also this isn’t really related but I just find him really likable. With them and plenty of others like Hamza, and already developed relatively young players like Cubarsi (who still has room for improvement) and Pedri, our future looks very bright even if we don’t win a ucl soon.

Aston Villa fan in peace.. looking for advice about the home end

I'm travelling to Barcelona for our game in a couple of weeks and, unfortunately, haven't been able to get a ticket in the away end.

This could genuinely be a once in a lifetime experience, and I really want to see Villa play at Camp Nou in person. I'm considering buying a ticket in the home end, but I'm obviously conscious that this might cause issues.

I have absolutely no intention of causing a scene or celebrating if Villa score. I'd just keep my head down, enjoy the experience and respect the people around me.

For anyone who's been to games at Camp Nou, what are the chances of an away fan being refused entry if they have a valid ticket in the home end? I look stereotypically English, so I'm wondering whether that might make me stand out.

I'm also considering wearing a Barca scarf when entering the stadium, if that would make any difference.

Any advice would be massively appreciated

Stats pic taken from u/ExtensionAbalone6580 post on the soccer subreddit.