FIRST CRISIS OF THE FLICK ERA
The Collapse of FC Barcelona in La Liga is Much Worse Than It Seems
Flick's team has only won one of their last six matches in La Liga, after winning 15 of the previous 16 matches. Following the recent setbacks, the Catalans have officially entered CRISIS
Since the historic thrashing of Real Madrid (0-4) in the Bernabéu Classic, Hansi Flick's Barça has only won two of the seven league matches they have played. The leader has lost against Leganés, Las Palmas, and Real Sociedad, and has drawn against Celta and Betis, accumulating 8 of the 21 points at stake. Only victories against Espanyol and Mallorca have masked a disastrous streak that has squandered the huge lead they had over their pursuers.
To get an idea of the magnitude of the problem, just take a look at the standings after the completion of matchday 17. Although Barça continues to appear in first place, the reality is that right now they are a circumstantial leader and in free fall. And it is that Atlético de Madrid, second in the table and Barça's next rival, was 10 points behind 5 matchdays ago. Now they have the same points and one game less...
A scenario similar to that of Real Madrid, which, despite having a dismal season, is only 1 point behind Flick's team and, like Atlético, also has one game less. In summary, if Simeone's and Ancelotti's teams win their pending matches, they would send Barça to third place in the table. Incredible
A Record Barça, Also in the Negative
Barcelona has only won 5 points out of 18 possible in their last 6 La Liga matches. The azulgrana team had not had a streak like this since October/November 2021 (4 with Koeman and 2 with Sergi, after the dismissal of the Dutch coach).
And indeed, the culé team has suffered two consecutive home defeats for the third time across all competitions in the 21st century, after April 2003 with Radomir Antić (2) and April 2022 with Xavi Hernández (3). In La Liga, they had not lost 2 consecutive home matches since April 2022: Barça 0-1 Cádiz (18.04.2022) and Barça 0-1 Rayo (24.04.2022).
Own Goal in 196 Seconds
Barça conceded the fastest goal of the season against Leganés. The goal by the captain of Leganés at 195 seconds is the earliest conceded by Barcelona this season in any competition. And this despite the fact that Leganés was one of the least scoring teams in La Liga and had not scored any goals in the first quarter of an hour of a match this season.
Flick's Barça has not kept a clean sheet in any of the last seven La Liga matches, conceding 10 goals. And they have not remained unbeaten since the Classic against a Real Madrid that, despite the draw in Vallecas against Rayo (3-3), has managed to cut another point from a Barça in crisis, which is currently only saved by the Champions League.
