Hansi Flick’s Barça was on a 24-game unbeaten streak and well positioned to achieve the treble. In LaLiga, they increased their lead over Real Madrid to four points, they are already in the Copa del Rey final, and in the Champions League, they took a key step on Wednesday toward the final in Munich with a 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Montjuic.
That great run came to an end last night against Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Four months after their last slip-up, the momentum has been broken. Signal Iduna Park can now boast of having put an end to Barça’s streak.
The end of the unbeaten run comes at a time when Barça’s attack is going through a dry spell. The last two goals scored by the Catalans, against Leganés and Borussia Dortmund, were own goals. In addition, Hansi Flick’s side did not have a single shot on goal in the entire first half against Dortmund.
That is, since last week when they thrashed the German side with four goals from the attacking trio of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski, who scored twice. The slump in attack is not alarming yet, but it is evident.
In the last five games, Barça has scored only eight goals. That is, 1.6 on average, when Flick’s team had been averaging three up to that point. This is a 50% drop in efficiency. As we said, the last goals scored by the Azulgrana team were own goals by the opposition, as 193 minutes have passed since the last goal scored by a Barça player – it was Lamine, who made it 4-0 in the first leg against the Ruhr side.
A clear example of this slump is Raphinha. After the international break, Raphinha needed a short break to recharge his batteries. He was not called up against Osasuna, was a substitute against Girona, and was not very active in a match against Real Betis, where the team showed signs of fatigue and could not get past a draw. He did play in the Copa del Rey against Atlético Madrid, but did not score.
Since the knockout against Argentina, the former Leeds player has only scored one goal in 400 minutes, and that was from a Cubarsí shot that was already on its way in. He found the net in the Champions League, but he is far from the numbers that have put him in contention for the Ballon d’Or in recent months. Lamine Yamal is more of the same. Since the last break, he has scored only one goal in the last 601 minutes.
There is a very busy schedule ahead, but the good news is that Barça’s dip in form has coincided with an improvement in defense that is keeping the team afloat. In 11 of the last 17 games, Barça has managed to keep a clean sheet.