Barcelona still reeling from Anfield collapse
BARCELONA: Barcelona haven’t recovered from last season’s debacle at Liverpool. Ever since a team featuring Lionel Messi squandered a three-goal, first-leg advantage at Anfield—in a humiliating 4-0 defeat in the Champions League semi-finals— Barcelona haven’t been the same side that inspires fear in rivals.
Barcelona had already won the Spanish league title when they were ripped apart by Liverpool on May 7, but after that stunning setback they finished their domestic campaign with a loss in the Copa del Rey final to Valencia.
The malaise that settled over Barcelona didn’t go away over the summer despite the club bringing in important reinforcements to add talent and depth. The numbers are numbing. After being outplayed by Granada 2-0 on Saturday, Barcelona are off to their worst start to the Spanish league in 25 years after earning just seven of 15 possible points. They haven’t won away from home since April and have, along with Real Betis and Espanyol, the worst defence in the Spanish league with nine goals conceded in five rounds.
“It is going to be a difficult year,” Barcelona’s Luis Suárez said following the slip at Granada. Barcelona have a record of two wins, a draw, and two losses so far in the Spanish league. They needed a strong performance from goalkeeper Marc-andre ter Stegen to take a 0-0 draw from Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League opener.
Barcelona only had a combined four losses in the league over the previous two seasons, and two of those defeats came with the title already clinched.
The recent stumbles have not come against the top teams, with results such as a 2-2 draw at Osasuna, a recently promoted team like Granada.
Messi has played limited minutes as he slowly returns from a leg injury. Suárez also missed two games because of injury.
France forward Antoine Griezmann, one of the league’s top scorers when leading Atlético Madrid, has just two goals since his high-profile transfer to help Messi and Suárez share out the scoring. The defence has suffered in particular. Holding midfielder Sergio Busquets, the glue of the team, has slipped a notch at age 31 and has no substitute in the squad. Club president Josep Bartomeu stuck with coach Ernesto Valverde after the loss at Liverpool despite calls for his firing. The pressure is now back on the coach. “The ones out there winning or losing are the players, but I take the responsibility for what has happened,” Valverde said.
The next four matches could go a long way to deciding Valverde’s future. Barcelona host Villarreal on Tuesday, and four days later visits the very physical Getafe. They then host Inter Milan in the Champions League on Oct. 2, followed by a visit from Sevilla.