Another clean sheet, La Liga played until the end of the 28th round, many people no longer care about the suspense of the league title, just curious about what level Barca can finally reduce the number of goals conceded.
However, compared to La Liga only 9 goals conceded, Barça conceded 16 goals in 8 European games and 26 goals in 15 games in three cup competitions, which is somewhat shocking, is this really the same Barça?
01. One of the pitfalls of Conde's right-back: his poor choice of adduction
a. When opponents hit the wing: Conde adduction is a little too "timely"
In this match against Girona, Barca returned to the 433 formation. On the offensive end, Fathi's performance is still remarkable, with some catches and tandems in the ribs, which bring chances.
However, the crosses from the wing of Balde and Conde are not of high quality, and it is difficult to effectively contact Lewandowski. At the same time, the small ball in the middle is not very suitable for Lewandowski, resulting in Barca's offensive inefficiency.
Because the offensive end does not score, everyone's attention will be pulled back to the defensive end. So Barça's problems in some details will attract more people's attention.
When Conde combined the opposing counter-attack with the ribs and the wing, the retreat was too close to the center, so he would rely on the winger to chase the wing.
The problem is that the opponent has no attacker in the front point of the center, originally Araujo can be placed normally, Conde so greatly adducted, firstly to block the teammate's position, secondly to enlarge the space on the wing, but also to make the back point Balde's defense more difficult.
After Araujo went out, Conde was afraid of the opponent cutting forward and behind, so there was a move to the inside. However, Garvey's follow-up defense cut off this possibility.
Because Conde has moved closer to the position of the small penalty area, the opponent's outside line has a large cross space. At the back post, Balde's sense of protection was biased, but fortunately the Girona player's shots without defensive interference were still a bit low-quality.
b. Conde plays right-back: It's a big problem to meet a good winger
Xavi's first choice in previous matches, whether against Real Madrid or Manchester United, was for Araujo to play right-back.
This is not to say that Araujo is not performing well at centre-back, but rather to cover up Conde's defensive choices when facing wingers on the right.
France met Argentina in the World Cup final, and the first goal conceded may not really be blamed on Dembele's foul on Di Maria.
In the case of the sporting battle, Condé's huge depth of space before receiving the small penalty area allowed Di Maria to easily speed past Dembele was the root cause.
Griezmann's retreat as a front back is quite reasonable, and Conde's right-back position is so conservative that it makes people laugh and cry.
In the second leg of the Europa League play-offs against Manchester United, Conde returned to the right-back position. As a result, the side was reversed by Manchester United by 2 goals in the second half, all because the side let the opponent take the ball on the right side and hit the space behind the left wing.
The first goal was Fred's forward insertion, De Jong failed to follow, and Balder was stunned and lacked effective remedy. The second goal was a bounce to the back post, and Anthony scored with a shot before Bald came out.
It should be said that Conde's inaction on the right wing, coupled with the left-back's lack of defensive experience and positional sense, Barca can easily expose problems after encountering strong teams.
02. Another clean sheet! The opponent is not out of chance, just 0 shots on target
a. The opponent is not out of chance, just 0 shots on target
I have to say that Barça have won a lot of clean sheets, and there is a metaphysical taste in them. Because the other party is not without chance, but tends to shoot 0 on target.
The same is true in Girona, where at least three of their five shots on goal were good chances, but the result of 0 shots on target left Barca in danger.
Although this ball is said to be Conde falling last, causing the opponent not to be offside. However, the forward insertion of Girona striker Castellanos and easily dumped Garcia still exposed the problem.
This time Garcia's recovery is still relatively fast, of course, this is also related to the slow speed of the Girona forward.
However, in any case, the opponent still had a fully adjusted shot in the box, but fortunately the shot was deflected.
b. Garcia start: will it have a big impact on Barça in La Liga?
It should be said that when facing mid-range teams in La Liga, the use of Garcia as a player does not have such a big impact on Barca's defensive stability. This is essentially different from the Champions League, when Garcia was given by the other side, and although he will also give opportunities in La Liga, most of them will not be seized.
Garcia's problem is slow to turn and chase, while the core area is too weak to do the moves. However, the characteristics of good technique, good passing, and high ball quotient can also be regarded as a "shrunken version" of Christensen.
Barca's good defensive performance in La Liga this season is still related to the high pressing and execution in place, and the winger's retreat is more intense.
If you leave room for depth, whether it is the opposing winger's speed, or the central striker's front plug straight through, it is still easy to hit Barca's soft underbelly.
This time, Balder's defensive selection was average, leaving the opponent in a position not to be offside, while Garcia was completely thrown away by Castellano, and he was mainly responsible for this opponent's one-handed chance.
Araujo's defensive experience is still not enough, he is good at individual soldiers, but he still does too little to command the defensive line. Fortunately, the final shot was deflected again, and Barca were once again in danger.
03. Will Christensen be foolproof when he returns?
Christensen's return: It doesn't solve too many problems
Andreas Christensen celebrates his 27th birthday, and after joining the team, he gave Barca a lot of help in defense.
But with him or without him, will it really have a qualitative change in the quality of Barca's defense? Will BACK make Barca's defense solid?
The last time Barca lost in La Liga was a 1-0 defeat away to Almeria. The goal conceded in that game was directly related to Christensen.
When defending high, Christensen actually has the defect of not turning fast enough and being generally athletic.
In general, there are not many strikers with strong athleticism and speed advantage in La Liga, so the disadvantages of Barca's defense are not easy to expose.
Barca's defensive line is afraid of strong wingers on the wing, and fast attackers in the middle. Overall, the level of athleticism and complementarity is not really excellent.
b. Goals conceded in La Liga and Cup: Barça are hot and cold
Barca have conceded only nine goals in 28 La Liga games this season, but have conceded 26 goals in 15 games in the Champions League, Europa League, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.
Especially in the Champions League and Europa League, 16 goals have been conceded in 8 games, conceding an average of 2 goals per game. Even in Spain's domestic matches, they have conceded 3 goals in 2 Spanish Super League games and 7 in 5 Copa del Rey.
Seven domestic cup matches have already exceeded the total number of goals conceded in 28 league games.
Barca's low goal conceded in La Liga is still related to the lack of good scorers in the entire league environment (after removing penalties, only Lewandowski has scored more than 10 league goals).
In addition, in the league environment, few teams use fighting tactics. The frequency of continuous pressure on the back line is low, and the threshold will not be broken, which is the reason why Barça's defensive performance in the league and cup is both hot and ice.
Conclusion:
Only under different environments and tests can we understand the color and level more clearly. Barca's defensive success this season has delighted supporters.
However, compared to the teams that are really good at defense, Barca conceded fewer goals in La Liga, and there are still too many accidental factors and coincidences in it. The team's reinforcement this summer still needs to be targeted in order to take itself to the next level in the Champions League.