At Barcelona’s pre-match press conference before their match against Borussia Dortmund, Ernesto Valverde was asked about two things: the Blaugrana’s defensive record, and their dismal away record of late.
The Catalans have conceded seven goals in their four LaLiga Santander games to start the season, and both Valverde and Marc-Andre ter Stegen recognised that they need to improve the defensive aspect of their play.
However, when asked about Barcelona’s away form, Valverde was more bullish. “We have played very few matches to consider it a trend,” he noted.
As seen on the pitch at Signal Iduna Park, though, we can confidently discuss this trend and, moreover, it is dangerous. Continuing to ignore it would be an irresponsibility that could have serious and grave consequences.
It’s true that getting a draw away to Dortmund is not a bad result, but the worrying part is more to do with the Blaugrana’s performance.
If Marc-Andre ter Stegen did not have the fantastic match that he did, which included a penalty save, Barcelona could have lost by three or four. The draw simply covered over the fact that this was yet another away performance in which the Catalans played poorly away from the Camp Nou.
Allowing the other team to get shots away
In Dortmund, the worst aspects of this Barcelona team came together: a poor display away from home, a lack of an attacking threat, and a plethora of holes in defence.
Barcelona allowed Dortmund to have 11 shots, with Athletic Club and Osasuna having 15 shots apiece in the Blaugrana’s first two away games of this season, too.
In those three games, the opponent has got more shots away than Barcelona, a clear sign that something is wrong. In fact, in Germany, UEFA’s official statistics state that Valverde’s side only got two shots away, nine less than Dortmund.
No one can deny that this Barcelona have two faces. At the Camp Nou, they can steamroll teams and adhere to Johan Cruyff’s maxims by which he said that he didn’t mind conceding goals if they scored one more. Against both Real Betis and Valencia, they won by a score of five goals to two.
What is more is that the defensive fragility is worrying. Ter Stegen will not be at his best in every game, with Valverde yet to find the solution to tightening up at the back.
Legacy
But this dangerous trend is not new. As Barcelona drew the 2018/19 season to a close, they had poor results in their final four matches, of which the worst was the 4-0 humiliation against Liverpool at Anfield and the 2-1 defeat to Valencia in the Copa del Rey final.
In addition to those two, Barcelona lost to Celta Vigo before drawing 2-2 against Eibar, further exemplifying their downturn away from Catalonia.
If we only speak about Europe, it is clear that Barcelona have issues whenever they come up against the continent’s biggest teams.
There are some exceptions, of course, such as Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Inter, but the facts are not encouraging.
On top of the draw away at Dortmund on Tuesday, it is worth remembering the away miserable defeats in recent years: 4-0 away to Liverpool, 3-0 at Roma, 3-0 against Juventus in Turin, and 4-0 when facing Paris Saint-Germain.
In none of those five games were Barcelona able to score, while the opposition had multiple chances to find the back of the net. This is an issue that needs to be resolved but it will not be simple as it is not a specific problem.
2019/20 season
Dortmund-Barcelona 0-0. A poor Barcelona performance that saw them earn a point because of Ter Stegen’s incredible display. They allowed the Germans to create multiple chances, while they were unable to threaten themselves.
Osasuna-Barcelona 2-2. Bad first half that saw Valverde make changes at the break, with Ansu Fati and Arthur Melo coming on as they turned the 1-0 deficit around, but Osasuna levelled late on.
Athletic Club-Barcelona 1-0. Another first half to forget. Barcelona improved once Ivan Rakitic came on as a second-half substitute, but Aritz Aduriz scored a contender for goal of the season in the final minutes to seal the win.
2018/19 season
Valencia-Barcelona 2-1. Valencia were always in charge, going 2-0 ahead, and Lionel Messi’s goal was not enough. Luis Suarez did not play because he decided to have surgery in order to go to the Copa America.
Eibar-Barcelona 2-2. Valverde made a number of changes prior to the Copa del Rey in a match that no longer meant anything. Eibar went ahead on the day and got a draw at Ipurua, despite Messi’s two goals.
Liverpool-Barcelona 4-0. The worst of all. Barcelona lost a 3-0 lead from the first leg and were abysmal on the night. A match that shattered their dream of winning the Champions League again.
Celta-Barcelona 2-0. This match has the mitigating factor that it was played just before the Champions League semi-final second leg. Valverde played all of his substitute players.