Barça’s numbers in the League are indisputable with half the championship played. 50 points out of 57, with only one loss (Real Madrid) and two draws on loan (Rayo and Espanyol). With many aspects to improve, Xavi’s team has acquired regularity and feeds on an irrefutable determination to lead.
SOLVENCY OF TER STEGEN. A dominating goalkeeper is worth two. Ask Madrid with Thibaut Courtois from last season, for example. Only Koundé’s own goal in Seville prevented the German from equaling Liaño’s record from the 1993-1994 season, when with Deportivo he conceded only six goals at the end of the first round. Ter Stegen has received just seven and has been capital with merit interventions in many games. The recovery of the best version of him has been a breath of fresh air for Barcelona, ??who had never conceded so few goals in 19 games (until now his best record was 9 goals in 2015 and 2018). In 14 of them he has left a clean sheet.
A BOOK DEFENSE. Normally when a goalkeeper closes his goal it is also because he has a well organized and sharp defensive line ahead. The one of the Barça is being it. Barcelona was reinforced in the summer with Koundé and Christensen and the two have become basic pieces. The French, more exuberant and versatile. The Danish, more calm and discreet. But both very effective together with a Ronald Araújo who, before and after his muscle injury, has gotten used to marking the line of Barcelona’s defensive aggressiveness.
THE ENERGY OF YOUNG PEOPLE. It was a matter of time (and in some cases it has taken too long) for a generational change to be applied at Barça. To the point that at the beginning of the season it was novel that none of the four captains at that time (Busquets, Alba, Piqué and Sergi Roberto) were in an eleven. Badia’s pivot remains a stronghold but when it shines the most is when youngsters like Gavi and Pedri support him and when De Jong acts as a luxury squire. The new number 6 of Barça and the canary have consolidated taking new steps forward when it comes to gaining weight in the game. Barcelona cannot be understood without the clairvoyance of Pedri and the vigor of Gavi. To these we must add the vertiginous irruption of Balde, with whom almost nobody counted when the season was planned in summer. If the team has three left-backs, it has been because Balde has broken down the door, has seated Jordi Alba in important games and has turned Marcos Alonso into a secondary actor. It is the paradigm of the modern, physical, upright and brave footballer.
KNOW HOW TO SUFFER. There is not a Barça that is walking in the matches for the championship. Points have to be worked hard, saving victories to the limit everywhere. Up to eight games Barcelona have taken to their mill by a single goal difference, six of them 1-0. An exercise in pragmatic sacrifice. In the daily menu of the League are points that are worth a potosí. Where talent does not arrive, willpower does.
LEWANDOWSKI STYLET. Since the end of October, the most buoyant version of the Pole has not been seen, who started the League like an unstoppable cyclone, scoring at will and with world-class actions. He has lowered the piston and has also been suspended for three games but with 14 goals he is at the top of the scorer’s table. 35.8% of the team’s goals in the championship bear his signature. Barça does not have a surplus of forwards on a roll, between departures, injuries and poor form, and much of the hope is placed on Lewandowski’s aim to maintain the lead in the second round.
XAVI COORDINATES. His Barça has room for improvement in the sense of being fully consistent with the style of his coach. But, step by step, the coach has found an eleven and some automatisms. Barcelona lacks control in some phases but the one from Terrassa has impregnated his team with competitiveness. From there he is building.
