100 days of Setien: Unbeaten at Camp Nou and in the hands of Messi

100 days of Setien: Unbeaten at Camp Nou and in the hands of Messi

Setién renovará con el Barça: los motivos / | ZML

Barcelona remain inconsistent away from home but are still good at Camp Nou

Quique Setien's 100 days in charge of Barcelona have seen just 12 games. The indefinite suspension of football in Spain due to the coronavirus pandemic has temporarily ground things to a halt, leaving Barça top of La Liga and in the last 16 of the Champions League. 

Barça's performances under Setien have been OK but not brilliant. And, as expected, Lionel Messi has been the best. The Barça captain has played the most minutes under the new boss, along with Ter Stegen, and has scored the most goals (8) and set up the most (7). The negative side of the 12 games is the Copa del Rey elimination to Athletic Club in the last eight. 

With Setien, Barça have responded at Camp Nou: six games, six wins. They have averaged 2.4 goals per game and conceded 0.3. That's helped move them two points clear in La Liga, although they have been inconsistent on the road: two wins, a draw and three losses. 

In all the defeats -- Valencia, Athletic, Real Madrid -- the team failed to score. During Setien's first 100 days, they have only won three games in a row: Betis (2-3), Getafe (2-1) and Eibar (5-0).

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El número 1

The player who has shone in Setien's 12 games: Messi. The Argentine has scored 36 percent of the 22 goals and set up another seven of them. In total, he's been involved in 15 of the 22 goals, almost 70 percent. The captain scored four against Eibar. He also saved the team on Setien's debut against Granada on Jan. 19 by scoring the winning goal in a narrow 1-0 win late on. 

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Antoine Griezmann is the only player to score in all three competitions under the coach (league, cup and Champions League) and, along with Ivan Rakitic, has taken part in all 12 games. At the other end of the scale is Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele, who have been unable to play due to injuries.

IDEAL XI 

For Setien, his first choice team has begun to take shape. Ter Stegen in goal, Semedo and Alba the full-backs and Pique with either Lenglet or Umtiti in the middle of the defence. Sergio Busquets is the holding midfielder and Frenkie de Jong and Rakitic have been the more common picks ahead of him. In attack, Messi, Griezmann and Ansu Fati were playing most regularly before Braithwaite's arrival. 

Other players, such as Sergi Roberto, Arturo Vidal, Arthur and Junior have also featured regularly. Braithwaite was signed in February but impressed in his 127 minutes across three games. 

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