A comprehensive analysis of the problems of the Barcelona defense led by Xavi: the house collapsed, but the blame was on the door and not the pillar.
In 2024, Barcelona have conceded 13 of their 24 goals in the field of goals from the flanks.
New year, new life. Or at least that's what people say. But for Barça, this is not the case. In the time of 2024 so far, Barcelona have conceded 24 goals in 12 games, which translates to two goals per game. This disturbing and worrying number changed the plot of Harvey's story in just a month and a half. If in January there was talk of teams still performing in four competitions, in February there were only two left: one doubtful and the Champions League with a certain fear rather than the expectation it should have. So why are Barcelona so vulnerable?
Barcelona have been one of the worst defensively teams in La Liga since January. It's not just because of the absolute numbers, but also because advanced statistics show that Barça are mediocre in this regard. Xavi's team is the fifth team in La Liga to allow their opponents to shoot the closest (157 meters), they allow the opponent to have 113 expected goals (0 last season.)8) and was the seventh team to allow the opponent the most chances to shoot, reaching 24 times. But analysing the goals reveals a pattern that has destroyed Barcelona during this time: flank crosses.
Of the 24 goals conceded, 13 were scored via crosses. More than half. Even Xavi moved Clisterson to midfield, strengthening the midfield and adding height, as both Alaves and Granada scored four goals in this action. The problem has long been not the names of individual players, but structural. Blaming Araujo, Conde, De Jong or Cancelo is like seeing a house collapse, blaming the door and not the pillar. In this case, the pillar is a collective concept that is trying to cultivate every day, and Barça seems to have forgotten about it.
In addition, 12 of the 24 goals occurred in the first 15 minutes of each half. There were four goals between 0-15 minutes and eight between 46 and 60 minutes. Many of Barça's goals conceded came after they had scored: against Betis, who conceded two goals in a row after 2-0, Alaves narrowed the lead in a minute after 2-0, and Granada scored two goals in six minutes. These figures confirm the feeling that teams cannot control the pace of the game and are unable to smooth the situation when they are ahead, a situation that is usually punished harshly by Europe.
A team that is too long to defend where it wants.
Barça's regrouping without possession often doesn't work well. There was no structure that helped the players defend and rest, but cracks appeared from all sides, which allowed the opponent to take the ball to the wings, while Barcelona were unable to maintain defensive height after passing the first line of defence, which eventually led to the entire team sinking in their own penalty area, without one attacking performance that allowed him to dominate.
Pedri as a full-back, Frenkie de Jong and Christessen not jumping or shortening the pitch, and the defence tending to indulge in their own inertia, all contributed to the chaos in Barca's midfield. There are no regional reference points, only individuals, which makes it impossible for Xavi's team to push the defensive line where they want it to be because they don't have the ability to do it.
De Jong's mistake was serious, since in the first image it can be seen that he was the player who started running with Ricard, who ended up scoring, but this mistake was preceded by a series of structural flaws that made the opponent's task easier. In fact, Barcelona do not demand that the opponent be excellent in this situation, and it only takes two or three passes to disrupt Xavi's team and be in a position ready to be in the opposition penalty area.
In the last seven league games, Barcelona have received 31 crosses from the middle. The question is not the numbers, which are slightly lower than the team's 34 in the same period last season, but how prepared Barcelona were to defend against these situations.
First there is pressing, then there is individual defense
Xavi's Barcelona have long been known for looking to get the ball quickly. The Egarence had success as a player in a football game where he always had the ball and barely conceded a goal; He had little to no defense. As a coach and having already coached in Qatar, Xavi has opted for a very aggressive and vertical mode, with a particular emphasis on the first ten seconds after conceding a goal. What happens when teams are forced to defend longer?
Barça's opt-in approach to defending is individual, with less space allocation, prioritizing defending players rather than closing distances and reducing risk. This modality works when the dynamics are positive and the players have the ability to repeat the effort, but if not, then the problem is more serious. Many of the crosses came because Barça were easily beaten by their opponents with one or two passes, either in their own half or at the edge of the opponent's penalty area, which would have left jumping players in a difficult position and clearly showed a lack of structure to protect the players.
In the aforementioned case, Barcelona did not show the necessary aggression and quickness, allowing Celta's one-two combination of flanks to get the two players out of the picture, thus facilitating their attack. Barcelona are easily subdued because they always wear the same clothes regardless of whether it is cold or hot, which makes the opponent's game plan easier to implement.
If chaos occurs 50 metres from the goal, the result is that the opponent is able to shoot easily, which means that the team cannot defend far from the goal because they are unable to make frequent tackles and, more importantly, prevent the opponent from entering the danger zone. Barcelona was the third team to pull the defensive line the farther (48 meters) and the third team to be the most receptive to the opponent's reception, with a percentage of 0 for pressing, stealing or fouling within two seconds of receiving the ball22, according to statsbomb. This statistic examines the percentage of teams that press, steal, or foul within two seconds of an opponent's pass.
The plight of the midfielders and Christen's temporary solution
In the absence of a zone defense that minimizes this type of action, it is difficult for Barcelona to survive in the back and forth matches, since each player is excluded at the beginning of the match, preventing the possibility of players limiting the opponent's actions. In addition, there is another problem closely linked to this defensive style and that has been haunting Xavi and his team since August: the loss of Sergio Busquets and the absence of a replacement.
In most of the cases where Barcelona conceded goals, it was clear that there was a problem with their defense at the edge of the penalty area. Experimenting with trying to use Christesson gave his team-mates more freedom, especially when close to goal, but it didn't solve Barca's main problem in defence.
Most of the shots conceded by Barcelona in these situations were open-ended. The centre-backs have struggled this season, keeping their positions in control for too long and not being able to accurately judge the shooter, while Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong have both shown a lack of defensive quality in such situations. How to address these ongoing defensive oversights? Is it possible to correct these problems by adding or replacing some players? The Champions League will be a test for Barça, a team that rarely has the opportunity to face such a test.