There was a foul early on in the first half by Fern on Bruno, it was just a normal shithouse Fern tackle to break up the play but it rattled Bruno. Not the tackle in itself, because as much as he is a diving ****, he also wants to win and probably legitimately gets fouled a bit as well. But it was the moment that Bruno started complaining to the ref and Fern just stood there staring at him, basically saying this shit is gonna happen to you all night mate. That's what we miss with Rodri, he doesn't have that snap and bite that's needed in these types of games.
Another key moment for me was Dias constantly talking, constantly giving and receiving encouragement when doing a block or good tackle. This is exactly what we have been missing, all the way back from when Vinny started getting his injuries. It's easy to play something like that down, but if you have played team sports, you know how important it is and it can somehow just take you up levels in performance. In fact, Pep mentioned it in the post match interviews. It's HUGE.
I was disappointed again with Mahrez, fair's fair and this isn't his position, but Pep asks a lot of his players and it's up to you to deliver. He asked it of Torres this season, the kid has delivered. He asked it of Kevin against Chelsea, he delivered. Sterling struggled in that position and he had some time on the bench, but you know you get workrate from Sterling. If you aren't going to perform, you need to work, work, work, and Mahrez just doesn't get it.
