On Sunday night at Spotify Camp Nou, one of Barcelona's worst performances of the season led to a victory over Celta Vigo. It was a two-half contest, but in all honesty, the Catalans did not perform significantly better in either half.
The hosts took the lead early in the first half thanks to Pedri's easy finish, but the game deteriorated after that. It would be an understatement to say that Barcelona barely escaped with their lives.
The victory returns them to the top of La Liga, but there are significant concerns ahead of a vital stretch of games. Xavi will need to use his quick thinking skills because his club will be up against Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
Three key takeaways from Barcelona's 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo are presented by Barça Sphere.
1. The Seventh Clean Sheet in La Liga.
It is no secret that Barcelona is having defensive issues. Even though he had perhaps the strongest group of defensive reinforcements in all of Europe, Xavi is now limited to relying on just two centre-backs.
Prior to Andreas Christensen limping off against Inter Milan in the middle of the week, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde also had injuries during the international break. There are now just Gerard Pique and Eric Garcia left.
The manager shocked everyone by leaving Eric Garcia on the bench against Celta Vigo. Instead, Pique and Marcos Alonso began as the defensive pairing. While Jordi Alba defended the left-back position, Alejandro Balde was also used as a right-back out of position.
Barcelona appeared doomed to give up a goal on Sunday due to their shaky and makeshift defensive four. Despite all odds, the club managed to hold onto a slim one-goal advantage and keep the scoreless.
The Catalans were able to prevent a goal without conceding because Marc-Andre ter Stegen made some outstanding saves and Celta struggled to finish. On another night, the opponent may have appeared on the scoreboard with four or even five goals.
At Spotify Camp Nou, they attempted 14 shots, had six of them blocked, lost two excellent opportunities, and called Ter Stegen into four different saves.
2. A Horrible Second Half.
Barcelona only had dominance over the Galicians for the first 25 minutes of the game. Before Celta gained the upper hand in the second half, the struggle grew more level in the second half of the initial period. There was no going back after that.
For Barcelona, the statistics from the final 45 minutes demonstrate that they were utterly outplayed. From minutes 45 to 90, the men in blue attempted a massive 12, compared to Barcelona's two attempts. Just in the second half, Eduardo Coudet's team managed three shots on target, four missed, five shots blocked, two significant opportunities lost, and three saves by Barcelona's goalie. Additionally, they had 49% of the ball against Xavi's team at home.
Celta Vigo will feel unfairly treated by the result since they did not deserve to lose on Sunday night. It goes without saying that Xavi needs to start over because his tactics, which at first glance seemed to be functioning, has a number of weaknesses.
3. Lacking the Necessary Morale Boost
Barcelona must defeat Inter Milan this coming Wednesday in order to advance in the UEFA Champions League. Given that the Catalans lost to the same opposition less than a week ago, the must-win game is under intense pressure.
With the need to win against Inter Milan on Wednesday, a solid performance against Celta would have been the ideal confidence booster for Xavi's team and a warm-up for their biggest game of the season so far.
But the reality at Spotify Camp Nou was completely different. The Blaugrana put on another lackluster display Thursday night following their loss at San Siro. The attack felt disjointed and unorganized, and the defense was as fragile as it could be. For the second game in a row, Robert Lewandowski was completely absent, and Ferran Torres appeared to be a ghost of his former self.
While Pedri and Gavi appeared to be the only players attempting to make a difference, Ter Stegen stood up in goal. There weren't many more advantages for the hosts. Needless to say, the feelings prior to the UEFA Champions League match cannot be very pleasant.
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