ZCZC
BSP-03
FBL-ESP-LIGA,PREVIEW
Barcelona’s defensive problems fester despite healthy Liga lead
MADRID, Dec 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Barcelona’s title charge has been
riddled with defensive problems and just as they looked to have found
stability, another one landed at their feet.
Their 5-0 win over Levante last weekend may have been a triumph for
attacking fluency, not to mention Lionel Messi, who scored a hat-trick, but
more surprising was the clean sheet, their third in a row in the league for
the first time since March.
“We are on a positive run,” Gerard Pique said. “We are playing better,
conceding less and scoring goals, it’s all very positive.”
But after Thomas Vermaelen, their fourth-choice central defender, hobbled
off with a calf strain, the Barca board moved on Thursday to sign on loan
Colombian international Jeison Murillo despite the 26-year-old having played
only one La Liga match all season.
Ernesto Valverde had already switched to three at the back after Nelson
Semedo withdrew last-minute due to pain in his knee.
And now Vermaelen is expected out for at least a month while Samuel Umtiti,
Pique’s principal partner, is in Qatar, hoping to find a solution to his own
niggling injury to his knee. The Frenchman’s return date is unknown.
That leaves Clement Lenglet, who is experiencing a predictably up-and-down
debut season, and Pique, who has improved in recent weeks, but started the
season off the pace, like a 31-year-old with his sharpest days behind him.
“It can’t be that we concede every game,” Messi said in October. “We have
to be stronger defensively. We are following a year when it was very hard to
score against us.”
Barca are still three points clear at the top of the table, although 11th
in terms of goals conceded and, given Real Madrid have changed coach and
Atletico Madrid won just one away game all season, they might have hoped for
a heftier cushion.
In the past, Valverde could have looked within for cover but Barca’s youth
ranks are not as prolific as they once were. Oscar Mingueza, Chumi Brandariz,
Jorge Cuenca and Ronald Araujo are all defenders for the club’s B team but
none, seemingly, are deemed ready to step up.
Instead, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive, with a replacement sought
in January ahead of the start of the knock-out stages of the Champions
League. – Defensive leaks-
Lyon were the opponents drawn for the round of 16 on Monday and the French
side have already proven themselves dangerous against Manchester City in the
group stages. Memories remain fresh too of the four goals Barca conceded
against Roma on their way out of the quarter-finals in April.
Valencia’s Jeison Murillo, the 26-year-old Colombian, appears most likely
to come in but he will do well to find his feet straight away. The demands on
playing style at Barcelona are unique and most recruits need time to adapt.
The defensive leaks have other sources too, namely in midfield, where
Sergio Busquets has sometimes looked sluggish, particularly when team-mates
have been caught upfield and opponents pour forward on the counter-attack.
Adrien Rabiot is expected to join from Paris Saint-Germain, where his
contract expires next summer, but his arrival would likely come in June not
January.
Celta Vigo could prove generous opponents on Saturday, given their tendency
is to retain possession and attack. Ninth in the table, they boast the third
most goals scored, as well as the fourth most conceded.
There is also Messi, who tends to make light of deficiencies at the back.
He scored three and set up two more against Levante to take the Ballon d’Or’s
fifth best player to 20 goals in 19 games this season. His 34 in 68 last
season saw him collect Europe’s Golden Shoe award on Tuesday.
“The truth is I had no idea that all this would happen when I started,”
Messi said.
Real Madrid’s involvement in the Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi offers
Barcelona, and the chasing pack, a chance to extend the gap before the winter
break.
Atletico and Sevilla are both two points ahead of Real and three off the
lead. Diego Simeone’s side face Espanyol, who could have gone top last month
but have lost five games in a row since. Sevilla travel to 16th-placed
Leganes on Sunday.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Girona v Getafe (1830), Real Sociedad v Deportivo Alaves (2000)
Saturday
Real Betis v Eibar (1200), Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (1515), Barcelona v
Celta Vigo (1730), Athletic Bilbao v Real Valladolid (1945)
Sunday
Valencia v Huesca (1100), Leganes v Sevilla (1515), Rayo Vallecano v
Levante (1730)
BSS/AFP/MRI/0839 hrs