"I don’t want to talk about my old club like that" - Thierry Henry claims Barcelona will not win UCL if they persist with current tactics

Thierry Henry has slammed Barcelona's defenders, saying they will be the reason the Catalan side does not win the UEFA Champions League. He believes the players are not on the same page and are leaking too many goals.

Speaking on CBS Sports, Henry said that the club are poor defensively and it has been an issue that Hansi Flick has not managed to rectify. The Frenchman added that he was finding it hard to justify why they continue to make mistakes and said (via Tribal Football):

“The coordination (in defence) is so bad. You can’t win the Champions League like this, it’s very difficult. It’s this game (against Club Brugge), it’s against Paris Saint-Germain, last year it was against Benfica, then it was the Clasico, then it was Inter." “As we all know, I played for Arsenal, I played for Juve, I won a lot of stuff at Barcelona, for me to say that… it pains me to say that because I don’t want to talk about my old club like that. But you have to call a spade a spade. You can’t carry on defending like this. Every time hoping to score three or four, to be the team, not now, not in the modern era of football, you can’t defend like that.”

Barcelona drew 3-3 with Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League this week. They face Chelsea next in the competition, with both sides sitting outside the top 8.

Thierry Henry warned Barcelona earlier this season

Thierry Henry issued a warning to Barcelona after they lost 2-1 to PSG in the UEFA Champions League earlier this season. He claimed that Hansi Flick had to ditch the high line and adopt another tactic, as the top clubs would inevitably exploit it.

He was on CBS Sports after the game in October when he said (via Barca Blaugranes):

“You can not play in the Champions League with that high line. I’m sorry. When you play against good teams you are going to get exposed. And that’s exactly what happened. Any well timed run you go though on goal, every single time. They don’t want to change it, and I understand sometime coaches can be stubborn, but it can be costly in big games."

Barcelona face Chelsea, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Praha, and Copenhagen in the final four matches in the UEFA Champions League this season. They are currently 11th in the table with seven points.

Edited by Sripad