Barcelona Risk Throwing It All Away
— Apr 18, 2016 11:00 am | Leave a comment
Luis Enrique’s side slipped to a third straight defeat in La
Liga and now face a serious struggle to avoid complete capitulation with
Madrid and Atleti breathing down their necks
High drama at Camp Nou. Barcelona were seeking a reaction against Valencia after back-to-back defeats in the Primera Division and European elimination on Wednesday. But instead they suffered yet another disastrous defeat and now there is a real risk they will end up throwing it all away at the end of this season.
Barca had not lost three in a row in La Liga since February 2003. Back then, the Catalans scraped into Europe in sixth spot on the final day. It was their worst league finish in the modern era, one of their darkest hours. So that something similar should occur during their period of domination is surprising to say the least.
Just a few days ago, Luis Enrique’s side still had their eyes on a second successive treble. They were expected to beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and remained favourites to claim the trophy along with La Liga and the Copa del Rey. But after their exit at the Vicente Calderon and this latest loss, now nothing seems certain in the remainder of the current campaign.
In their last five fixtures prior to this one, Barca had won only one. That was a 2-1 success at home to Atletico in the first leg of the teams’ Champions League quarter-final and it came against 10 men after Fernando Torres was sent off. It also turned out to be meaningless anyway as Diego Simeone’s side advanced to the last four in their place.
Before that, there was a 2-2 draw at Villarreal when Barca let a two-goal lead slip, defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Clasico, a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad last weekend and then the 2-0 reverse away to Atletico. Ahead of this one, Luis Enrique spoke of a reaction, but again his players were unable to produce it.
Barca began better than they had done in previous matches, with Lionel Messi looking to end a sorry streak in front of goal that stood at 452 minutes as the two teams kicked off at Camp Nou. And even though the home side looked likelier to score early on, Valencia went ahead as Ivan Rakitic diverted the ball into his own net. Now, even luck was against them.
Dani Alves was surprisingly left out of the starting XI by Luis Enrique, perhaps as a form of punishment for his ill-advised video a day after the defeat at Atletico, in which he donned a wig and pretended to be girlfriend Joana Sanz consoling him for the loss with words like “it’s only a game, darling”.
Luis Enrique said on Saturday that the Brazilian was “only trying to help”, but his exclusion seems related and Valencia’s first goal came from an attack down that side where Sergi Roberto was picked instead.
Valencia then scored again before half-time through Santi Mina and that made things extremely difficult. Barca had not overturned a 2-0 deficit at home at the break since 1947 in La Liga and they had it all to do in the second period.
Messi eventually ended his drought in front of goal as he netted his 500th career strike, stopping the clock at 516 minutes which represents his third-worst run in scoring terms as a Barcelona player.
Valencia then squandered a stunning chance through Paco Alcacer and Barca missed an easy one themselves through Gerard Pique in the closing stages. Following the failure to sign Nolito in January, Luis Enrique’s sole variant in recent games has been to use the big defender as a centre-forward in times of need. It is not good enough.
That is perhaps a sign of just how short Barcelona are in terms of options. This is still a tremendous team, but a lack of alternatives this term has meant Luis Enrique is reluctant to rotate as he did so successfully last season when Xavi and Pedro were two luxury reserves lying in wait.
There is no such luxury now and with Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez suddenly out of sync, Luis Enrique does not seem to have the answers. In La Liga, Atleti are level on points after their win at Granada earlier on Sunday, with Madrid one further back, while a cup final awaits against Sevilla next month.
High drama at Camp Nou. Barcelona were seeking a reaction against Valencia after back-to-back defeats in the Primera Division and European elimination on Wednesday. But instead they suffered yet another disastrous defeat and now there is a real risk they will end up throwing it all away at the end of this season.
Barca had not lost three in a row in La Liga since February 2003. Back then, the Catalans scraped into Europe in sixth spot on the final day. It was their worst league finish in the modern era, one of their darkest hours. So that something similar should occur during their period of domination is surprising to say the least.
Just a few days ago, Luis Enrique’s side still had their eyes on a second successive treble. They were expected to beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and remained favourites to claim the trophy along with La Liga and the Copa del Rey. But after their exit at the Vicente Calderon and this latest loss, now nothing seems certain in the remainder of the current campaign.
In their last five fixtures prior to this one, Barca had won only one. That was a 2-1 success at home to Atletico in the first leg of the teams’ Champions League quarter-final and it came against 10 men after Fernando Torres was sent off. It also turned out to be meaningless anyway as Diego Simeone’s side advanced to the last four in their place.
Before that, there was a 2-2 draw at Villarreal when Barca let a two-goal lead slip, defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Clasico, a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad last weekend and then the 2-0 reverse away to Atletico. Ahead of this one, Luis Enrique spoke of a reaction, but again his players were unable to produce it.
Barca began better than they had done in previous matches, with Lionel Messi looking to end a sorry streak in front of goal that stood at 452 minutes as the two teams kicked off at Camp Nou. And even though the home side looked likelier to score early on, Valencia went ahead as Ivan Rakitic diverted the ball into his own net. Now, even luck was against them.
Dani Alves was surprisingly left out of the starting XI by Luis Enrique, perhaps as a form of punishment for his ill-advised video a day after the defeat at Atletico, in which he donned a wig and pretended to be girlfriend Joana Sanz consoling him for the loss with words like “it’s only a game, darling”.
Luis Enrique said on Saturday that the Brazilian was “only trying to help”, but his exclusion seems related and Valencia’s first goal came from an attack down that side where Sergi Roberto was picked instead.
Valencia then scored again before half-time through Santi Mina and that made things extremely difficult. Barca had not overturned a 2-0 deficit at home at the break since 1947 in La Liga and they had it all to do in the second period.
Messi eventually ended his drought in front of goal as he netted his 500th career strike, stopping the clock at 516 minutes which represents his third-worst run in scoring terms as a Barcelona player.
Valencia then squandered a stunning chance through Paco Alcacer and Barca missed an easy one themselves through Gerard Pique in the closing stages. Following the failure to sign Nolito in January, Luis Enrique’s sole variant in recent games has been to use the big defender as a centre-forward in times of need. It is not good enough.
That is perhaps a sign of just how short Barcelona are in terms of options. This is still a tremendous team, but a lack of alternatives this term has meant Luis Enrique is reluctant to rotate as he did so successfully last season when Xavi and Pedro were two luxury reserves lying in wait.
There is no such luxury now and with Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez suddenly out of sync, Luis Enrique does not seem to have the answers. In La Liga, Atleti are level on points after their win at Granada earlier on Sunday, with Madrid one further back, while a cup final awaits against Sevilla next month.
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