Barcelona's seven capital sins they must fix after Leganes defeat
Leganes beat Barca 2-1 at Butarque and it showed up some problems at the Catalan club
Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat at Leganes in the sixth week of the season was painful. They let the lead slip, with two goals in one minute. Just because Real Madrid didn’t take advantage later doesn’t mean Barca can ignore what happened.
Until the game against Leganes Barcelona had been getting points but not convincingly. Here were look at the seven sins that they need to look at to find their best game again…
Correct bad defensive errors
Gerard Pique and Thomas Vermaelen made errors that handed goals to Leganes, while Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet have also been sent off this season. They have let in seven goals in six games, many of the goals let in have been from individual errors, more than for the quality of opponents’ forwards.
Imbalance in the middle
Ernesto Valverde has not found the formula to allow Barcelona to play their best football in the middle, determining the pace of the game. Busquets cannot take control, Rakitic is lacking spark and at times he finds it hard to get back into position. Coutinho also has not found his best position on the pitch.
Signings bringing little
Malcom has been stopped by injuries, Lenglet got sent off in his firs start, Arthur and Arturo Vidal have not been particularly impressive when given chances. The new players need to bring more when they have the opportunity.
No capacity to react
Against Leganes Barca lost their lead and fell behind in the space of a minute but showed now ability to get back into the game. Coutinho and Rakitic forced Ivan Cuellar into a double save but that was about it, with Barca not adding more opportunities than that.
Lack of intensity
Barcelona should have finished the game off after going ahead. Lionel Messi hit the bar, but the team showed no intensity to keep looking for more goals. Barcelona’s identity only appears sporadically, in pressing and fast passing.
Bad form for stars
Some players like Samuel Umtiti and Ivan Rakitic are not at their best yet, a knock-on perhaps from competing until the end of the World Cup in Russia this summer, whereas Pique, Busquets and Luis Suarez are also struggling to hit their top levels.
Possible squad management errors
Ernesto Valverde is conservative when it comes to rotations, but when he has given players chances, they have not capitalised. Arthur, Malcom, Lenglet, Denis, Vidal, with no continuity they find it hard to offer their best version. Barcelona need to reach April and may with 15 or 16 players who are in condition to start matches, or they will face a similar problem to last year’s Rome debacle.
