FC Barcelona are having one of the best seasons in a decade, losing lost 1 game in 2025 out 26, with the one being a win over 2 legs. Barcelona have qualified for the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals, Copa del Rey Final and lead the La Liga table. With just few games left in the final stretch, their back-line is crumbling. Barcelona barely win against La Liga teams because of their poor defensive record. 2 seasons ago, we were the best defensive side under Xavi, when we lifted the La Liga title. Now, we could potentially clinch the treble and are underperforming in defense.
The Vulnerabilities Exposed
1.Borussia Dortmund
There is no doubt fatigue is a big part of Barcelona conceding goals but we need to fix that. In Barcelona’s second-leg against Borussia Dortmund, the players clearly looked tired from pressing. Players in the attacking third including Lamine, Raphnina, and Lewandowski couldn’t press in a coordinated intensity. This allowed Borussia Dortmund to make use of the flanks using the third man. The left link is quite weak defensively, in Balde’s absence Martin is not doing the best job which could be costly in future games. This game exposed Barcelona’s defense, instead of proper goals the mistakes led to the loss.
2.Celta Vigo
Another game against Celta, another close win. With both our best defending duo starting, Inigo and Cubarsi, we saw Barcelona’s worst display this season. Again for the first goal we conceded the cross came from Martin’s flank which was misread by the goalkeeper and Cubarsi and led to a goal. The second and third goal exposed our offside trap vulnerabilities, with both Inigo and Cubarsi being above the half-way line. Celta’s striker also stood behind the line and got 2 easy opportunities to score with long balls. These are games which should be won with a major margin. Conceding poorly crafted goal is not what we should do at this stretch of the season.
The ImprovementS
With the season reaching it’s crunch period, now it’s do or die for Barcelona. Learning from these mistakes is the only way forward. We should be careful and should fight as a team, with potentially a treble in line the mentality of winning should be straight forward. Barcelona should start to take games seriously, Inigo and Cubarsi have been great this season and should complete the treble stretch.
Improvements should be made using the offside trap, when using the high-line the timing and coordination should be perfect among the back-line. Barcelona have conceded poor goals from set-pieces including game against Dortmund. They should improve the set-piece tactics with proper man-to-man marking to protect the box. This should be done in training to concede less goals from crosses, corners, and free kicks. Another problem is not able to clear the ball away from danger. Against Dortmund we saw the third goal came because of poor defensive clearance. Dortmund’s striker easily caught the ball and finished pass the goal keeper in fierce manner.