Barcelona’s Turbulent Season: Defensive Struggles Unraveling the Blaugrana
The current season in the Catalan capital has been far from smooth sailing for FC Barcelona, a stark departure from the successes of the previous year. Fresh off their recent elimination from the Copa del Rey at the hands of Athletic Club Bilbao, the team faces a challenging outlook, having already lost the first title of the season with a resounding 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid. Their league campaign appears to be losing momentum, and as they approach the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 against Napoli, confidence is not at its peak.
The primary concern and the most significant deviation from the past season lie in Barcelona’s loss of defensive solidity, a characteristic that defined them before. Opposing teams, with seemingly minimal effort, are finding ways to exploit Barcelona’s vulnerabilities, resulting in a high number of goals conceded, often in the early stages of matches.
Here are some of the quickest goals conceded by FC Barcelona this season:
- Granada 1-1 FC Barcelona (17 seconds) In LaLiga’s 9th round, it took a mere 17 seconds from the initial whistle for Granada to score against Barcelona. Facing Granada, Bryan Zaragoza found the back of the net, leveling the score. Notably, Barcelona started the match with possession but found themselves trailing in the blink of an eye.
- FC Barcelona 2-1 Alavés (18 seconds) Just four matchdays later, Barcelona again stumbled at the start. In the match against Alavés, Samu Omorodion scored after only 18 seconds. This time, however, Xavi Hernandez’s side managed to turn the situation around and emerged victorious.
- Athletic 4-2 FC Barcelona (35 seconds) In the recent Copa del Rey clash against Athletic Club, Barcelona conceded yet another early goal. Guruzeta needed only 35 seconds to open the scoring, setting the tone for a match that would see Barcelona eliminated from the competition.
