FC Barcelona: The five worst games in 2024

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This Tuesday will be the last day of 2024. A year in which the Barça fan has seen all kinds of events pass before his eyes. It has been a most curious return to the sun, in which Barça has lived on a constant roller coaster. In the midst of this context, there have been matches that have hypnotized the world of football, while others would have been better played in double speed. This article, after the publication of the five best duels, will be dedicated to reviewing what are, according to the author's criteria, the five worst matches that FC Barcelona has played in the second half of the previous campaign and the first of this one.

It is important to remember that this text is written applying a logical subjectivity as it is an opinion. The writer likes good associative play, the characteristic of the champion Barça. That is why, in terms of the selection of matches, this aspect will prevail over any other. Likewise, the rival against whom the culé team has fought in a duel will also be an aspect that defines the classification. However, the emotional part will also have its weight. With the rules on the table, dear reader of FCBN, it is time to dive into the analysis.

Position 1: Real Madrid 4-1 FC Barcelona

It is said that it does not matter how something starts, but what is important is how it ends. However, this match started very badly and ended in the same way. In a few days it will be a year since this final of the Spanish Super Cup, which Barça reached after beating Osasuna 2-0. The Madrid team was infinitely superior to Xavi Hernández's pupils from the start. In fact, in the 10th minute, Vinicius Júnior was already celebrating his double.

The defensive fragility was tremendous and the feeling was that the white team was doing damage with very little. While it is true that the Catalans had some better minutes and serious chances, when Real Madrid accelerated, they stepped on Barça. The poor performance on the pitch and having been thrashed by their staunch rival, as well as the fact that this happened with a title at stake, make this match be classified by the author as the worst played by FC Barcelona in 2024.

Position 2: FC Barcelona 1-4 PSG

Excuse me, reader of FCBN, for reminding you of this painful match. After a disappointing season for Barça, the great round of 16 match against Napoli allowed the Catalans to dream of the long-awaited sixth Champions League. In addition, the draw that the Blaugranas were drawn to was the easiest and the first leg of the quarterfinals brought a positive result. Everything was joy and excitement.

It seemed that the semi-final was within reach when Raphinha put Barcelona ahead in the 12th minute at the Parc des Princes. However, with Ronald Araujo sent off just after half an hour, the descent into hell began. Xavi decided to substitute Lamine, meaning Barça were left without their most prolific player. Dembélé took it upon himself to instill fear in the Blaugranas just before half-time. In the second half, the Parisian surges brought down the Barça wall and broke the hearts of millions of Barça fans. Mbappé, who did not appear throughout the tie, sealed the match with a penalty goal (61') and another by pushing the ball in at the buzzer.

The team's performance on the pitch was very poor, as was Xavi Hernández's performance. The emotional blow was also very hard, it was the only hope that seemed possible in a team that did not even have what was supposedly necessary to be crowned European champions. On top of that, the rival has been one of the most rejected by the Blaugrana fans for years. These reasons lead them to be second, although they could well be first.

Position 3: FC Barcelona 3-5 Villarreal

One cannot make a ranking of the worst Barça matches in 2024 and forget the disaster that was the early resignation of Xavi Hernández. In a terrible match, Villarreal won 3-5 against a culé team that was several gears behind throughout the duel. The 'yellow submarine' already warned with two goals, disallowed for 'illegal position', in the first 20 minutes. The Barça team had a certain lucidity in the second half, as they managed to overcome the initial 0-2 and turn it into a 3-2. However, in the final minutes, the Groguets struck again and in 20 minutes, 5 of regulation time and 15 of added time, they achieved the final result.

Xavi's post-match press conference was delayed for a long time, but for a clear reason: the man from Terrassa was telling Laporta that he was resigning, although with the aim of staying until June. The president accepted, although there were several twists and turns on both sides afterwards. As for the match, the emotional charge makes this match, which was bad, more present than usual and not just a bad performance.

4th place: Real Sociedad 1-0 FC Barcelona

The two remaining matches are already part of Hansi Flick's time as Barcelona coach and are both recent. Fourth place goes to the match against Real Sociedad, at the Reale Arena. The Basque team had only won once at home in LaLiga, out of six matches, and it was against Valencia, which is not having its best season. Barça, without Lamine, played a very bad match there and, being the highest scoring team in the competition, left San Sebastian without even shooting between the posts.

Unfortunately, in the last few games for the Catalans there is competition, but this one, marked by the controversial goal disallowed for Lewandowski, may be the worst game since the German coach took over the reins of the team. What is a fact is that it was the one that started the bad streak of the last two months, from which the team is expected to emerge at the beginning of 2025.

Position 5: FC Barcelona 1-2 UD Las Palmas

To close the top 5, the visit of UD Las Palmas. It is true that this place could also be occupied by that of Leganés, but the author's point of view is that against the Madrid team, within the bad, Barça played 'better'. Lack of competitive tension is the definition of this clash, in which the Canary Islands team managed to dismantle the poorly articulated Blaugrana pressure when it saw it necessary and closed in to avoid conceding another goal. On top of that, this defeat occurred the day after the celebration of the club's 125th anniversary. A disaster.