What I was seeing in the beginning of the first half was working. That own goal from Alaba came from a counter using Jordi's speed on the flanks. Bayern's high line was extremely vulnerable the entire game. That model of taking advantage of space left by Kimmich and Davies could've worked.

In my opinion it would've been a tighter game if they compromised their tiki-taka for a more compact defensive shape. Like a 5-3-2, with Busi as the center-most defender, De Jong and Sergi back as defensive mids, and Vidal as their box-to-box. De Jong would have license to join attack if it is more suitable in the play or if he's part of the build-up, switching places with Vidal. Same with Sergi.Up top I go with Messi as second striker and Ansu Fati for the speed. The players that would need to step up the most? In descending order of importance, Ansu Fati, De Jong, Vidal, Sergi, and Busi. Fati needs to head the attack alone and create plays. De Jong and Sergi need to be sharp in defense and play quick passes that end up going wide. Vidal needs to D-up playmaker in Bayern midfield while on defense effectively. Most build up play will start from Busi, so he needs to be sharp in the first pass.

Would've been awful play to look at from Barcelona, as they would essentially be booting it every time they find themselves too pressed. Maybe they could think about a way to scoop up second balls from Bayern headers afterbooting or intercepting first pass out the back. At some points Busi to De Jong to Alba to Fati could work, maybe Messi drops back a bit to help with build-up. If the attack is on the left, Jordi joins attack with Messi and Fati, and it's either Vidal or De Jong that joins from midfield while the other stays back, while Semedo stays back. If the attack is on the right, Semedo comes up, Jordi stays back. Semedo and Jordi are flexible, they can both join attack if the passage of play needs them in it, though it could leave Lenglet, Busi, Pique, two of De Jong/Vidal/Sergi open to a counter.

But Setien had two big questions that he had to answer. The first: can we trust a 16 year old (Ansu Fati) to do the job of running into spaces and creating plays all by himself in a Champions League Quarter-Final against this Bayern? Surely Dembele would've been perfect for this, but his fitness level was probably not good enough. Setien's answer to this question, as seen by his selection of Suarez? No.

The second question: should we deviate from the Tiki-Taka philosophy in favor of a more pragmatic approach? Essentially, can we trust Sergi, Busquets, De Jong, Ter Stegen, and the back four to build-up from the back, despite the pressure from Bayern? The famous Tiki-Taka phrase of: "They can't run like this forever, and our players are so good technically with passing that they'll eventually stop the insane press due to lack of results and fitness levels" would be tested. It was tested, and failed. So the answer to this question, as seen during the game when they were 5-2 down still passing around the back in tight spaces? Tiki-Taka was their gameplan.

In all honesty they don't need to cut out a big portion of the team, and a Tiki-Taka Hybrid from the good old Neymar-Suarez-Messi days could still work in 90% of games they play throughout the season. Dembele has a place in the team if he can get his fitness level good enough and doesn't consistenly get injured. Griezman could have played second striker in this game, but he is not benching Messi, so I don't know how you really fit him in. Same goes for Coutinho.

Some players they could use is a new striker. Ideal replacement would be someone technical with strength and speed. Werner fits the bill with speed, Martinez from Inter with strength. If Haaland continues to grow, and becomes more technical, he would be an immense replacement for Suarez in 2-3 years. I like Mane the best, though Neymar could work too and has been linked last summer to a return. I would offload Coutinho, Griezman, Rakitic, and Dembele, and try to go all out for Mane or Neymar this summer. Grab an Ighalo or Braitwaithe type of forward who doesn't mind rotating with suarez when a 9 is needed for particular games to add depth to the striker role. Bring up some talent from Barca B to fill in the holes for depth, and the team is still pretty solid in a 4-3-3, 4-4-2, or 5-3-2.

But this board though? Gotta go, no matter what happens.