The 10 crosses of a Barça without 10

Barça fell in the second round of the Cup, the only title they won last season. Despite this, last year they reached the Super Cup final, played in the League until the penultimate matchday and reached the knockout stages of the Champions League. In the first post-Messi year, with a squad devalued due to the narrowness of ‘fair play’, they have fallen for the first time in two decades in the group stage of the highest continental competition, lost in the semifinals of the Super Cup against Madrid and are 17 points for the Whites in the League, where they are sixth.

the output of ronald koeman It has not been the expected shock. Until his dismissal, the Dutch coach had 5 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses. Sergi Barjuan he reaped two draws in the League and a victory in the Champions League. Xavi, despite the fact that the game has improved in some phases of certain matches, has 5 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. The last three games have resulted in a draw in Granada and two defeats and eliminations in the Super Cup and the Cup. If the loss to Madrid left a good feeling, Bilbao saw (Bayern apart) the worst game of the Xavi era.

One of the aspects that is penalizing the azulgranas the most is their inability to shield their frame. With Xavi they have only kept a clean sheet against Espanyol, Mallorca and Benfica. And that, after a long bump, Ter Stegen It has stopped again in the last crashes.

memphis payment He seemed to want to carry the weight of being the new standard-bearer after Messi’s departure, but he faded away as the defeats came. Everything trusted to the return of ansu fati, the heir to the 10 of the Argentine myth. But he has only been able to play 10 games. And the team, which was excited about their returns, collapsed emotionally in Vigo and Bilbao with the relapses.

Ansu, who has been lost 65 games due to physical problems since his debut, could be between four and six weeks out after his ninth injury. He suffered from the femoral biceps of the left thigh and this Friday he will undergo tests to confirm how many games he will miss. The return of Dr. Ricard Pruna, who returned to the club a month ago, has not yet worked the miracle of putting an end to the bloodshed in the infirmary. Ansu and Pedri they could not finish the game in Bilbao. The two players called to command the Barça of the future have not been able to play an entire game together this season.

Only three times did he shoot between the three posts in Bilbao. The Barcelona block continues to have a hard time generating clear scoring chances. Koeman’s question of who scored Leo’s goals remains unanswered. Last season he not only made 38 but also gave 18 assists, 56 points. And he resolved with individualities many stuck meetings like the one on Thursday.

Leo scored 50 free-kick goals with Barça, many of which resolved tight pulses in days. Without Leo, the team has not yet achieved any this season and does not have a specialist, as was seen in San Mamés in a symptomatic image: Alves and Alba they were outlined for the direct launch and the second, when trying to make the launch, ended up falling on his ass.

In Bilbao (minute 86), as in Granada (89) and Pamplona (86), Barça conceded again in the final five minutes. “It’s the same movie, we don’t control the matches”, Xavi lamented in Granada. “We have lacked more patience again and more dominance,” he commented after handing over the cup crown.

Joan Laporta The renewal of Messi was marked as an objective and then that of Dembélé. “I’m going to do a proposal that you can not to refuse”, He said almost a year ago about Leo, although in the end he had to withdraw the offer he had made, arguing that economic ‘fair play’ did not allow it. Now he has also withdrawn his offer to the Frenchman, tired of six months of unsuccessful negotiations. Not only that, but, fed up with his agent’s procrastination, he has told him that He will not play again and wants him out before January 31. His renewal was key not so much because of the performance of the French winger on the field but so that the club’s second most expensive signing did not leave for free and to be able to lower the ‘fair play’ belt.

Six years after Berlin, Barça still hasn’t found a guarantee for the two full-backs. The technical secretariat, which continues to yearn for the arrival of Gayá in the summer, work to find a lefty lane by Jan. 31. Busquets, that he has only rested 12 minutes with Xavi (not counting the game of suspension in Mallorca), and Pique they remain fixed also in the eleven.