Barcelona’s set piece woes continue as club legend’s shadow looms large

Barcelona’s struggles from set pieces continue to be a concern for the club and their fans, especially in the absence of Lionel Messi, who was a master of free-kicks during his time at the club. According to Marca, Barcelona have gone two full years without scoring a goal directly from a free-kick, with 41 attempts resulting in a 0% success rate.

Robert Lewandowski was the latest to try his luck against Real Betis on Saturday, but his effort was comfortably saved by the goalkeeper. Raphinha has attempted the most free-kicks for Barcelona since Messi’s departure, with nine attempts, but none have resulted in a goal. Despite having several players who are considered specialists in taking free-kicks, including Lewandowski, Memphis Depay, Philippe Coutinho and Marcos Alonso, none have been able to break the drought.

Xavi Hernandez, the current Barcelona manager, has said that the team practices free-kicks every day at the end of each training session, and he remains confident that they will eventually score from a set piece