Broken Defense?: Barcelona Extends Streak of Matches Conceding Goals

Published:22/12/2024 - 03:18h

Updated:22/12/2024 - 03:18h

FC Barcelona's defeat against Atlético de Madrid (1-2) extended the streak of consecutive matches conceding goals for Hansi Flick's team. The team has conceded 12 goals in 8 matches

FC Barcelona's defense failed again on Saturday in the defeat against Atlético de Madrid (1-2). For the eighth consecutive matchday in La Liga, Hansi Flick's team conceded at least one goal, bringing the total to 12 goals conceded by Iñaki Peña since the Catalan derby (victory 3-1 against Espanyol). On average, Barça concedes 1.5 goals per match since matchday 12, enough for the team to have only earned 5 of the last 21 points in the tournament.

After the victory against the 'perico' team, the culés lost narrowly in their visit to Real Sociedad (1-0). After the November break, the azulgrana team seemed to have the victory in their pocket at Balaídos against Celta, but a couple of goals in less than 2 minutes allowed the Galicians to equalize the score (2-2).

A week later, Barça suffered their first home defeat of the season, against UD Las Palmas (1-2). The team conceded 2 goals again a week later, at Betis (2-2) and, after returning to Montjuïc, defeats against Leganés (0-1) and Atlético (1-2) confirmed a disastrous end of the year for the culés. The burden of minutes is starting to weigh too much for Koundé, Iñigo, Cubarsí, and Balde, all visibly exhausted in the final minutes of the last matches.

The Classic, Last League Match Without Conceding for Barça

For Barcelona, keeping their goal clean has been an impossible mission since the Classic against Real Madrid (0-4). Hansi Flick's team thrashed the 'merengues' with exemplary defensive work, leaving the Madrid forwards offside a dozen times. The excellent feelings left by the brutal thrashing at the Bernabéu, however, faded when November arrived.

Only the victory in the Champions League, against Brest (3-0 at Montjuïc), allowed Iñaki Peña to have a quiet day during the last two months of 2024. The azulgrana team closes the first half of LaLiga with 22 goals conceded, 1.8 goals per game. Last season, with Xavi Hernández on the bench and the team more questioned than ever, the defensive records were identical (22 GA), but Barça had 3 more points in their favor (41).