The data that leaves Andre Gomes (once again) in the spotlight

Andre Gomes has not got going. The Portuguese midfielder once again disappointed at La Rosaleda and missed the chance to justify Luis Enrique's decision to once again play him. Wherever you look, the data doesn't allow any arguments: his first year at Can Barça has been a failure. 

At Malaga, Gomes didn't recover a single ball. Not one. In addition, he only won 16 per cent of his duels which he took part in during the game, the lowest per cent of the 28 players who played. Further up the pitch, despite his height, more of the same as he won just 25 per cent of his aerial battles. 

As for building play, he hid and his numbers reflect that. With 24 passes, he was the Barcelona player with the least involvement -- not including goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who made 20. Andres Iniesta and Sergi Roberto, who came on at half-time, made 38 and 26 respectively. 

That Gomes has fear of making a mistake also can be seen in the times he made contact with the ball: just 31 touches. Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi and Neymar, for example, were up around 80. 

Collectively, there's also little doubt. With Gomes starting, Barça have won 62 per cent of their games. With him not starting, that increases to 76 per cent. Away from Camp Nou, he has started 14 times and the Blaugrana have only won seven games. 

But there's more. He has started Barcelona's last five slip-ups and, in addition, his team-mates have won 10 of the last 11 games he has not been involved in. If the data extends to games when either he didn't play, or played less than 20 minutes, the data is more significant: 90 percent wins for the Blaugrana (17 out of 19). 

Even though Barça aren't planning to sell him, the reality is he has not performed as expected. The club took a big gamble on him, paying 35 million euros plus more in variables, and are convinced he can be a success at Camp Nou.