Barcelona’s defence: From title-winning cornerstone to Xavi’s unsolvable problem

Barcelona’s La Liga win last season was, in large part, down to their defence. This campaign, it has cost them the title.

Xavi’s team conceded 20 goals in 38 La Liga games last season, the lowest figure across Europe’s top five leagues. They have already conceded 33 goals in 24 league games this term and have let in 23 in all competitions since the start of 2024 — the most of any team in the ‘big five’ leagues.

Barca have not conceded this many goals at this stage of a season since 2000-01, when they had let in 34 times. Only eight other La Liga teams have conceded as many as them — and 18th-placed Cadiz are one of those sides. They are 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid in third and look all but certain to relinquish their domestic crown.

It is an alarming downturn, one that is even more surprising given the players in Xavi’s back line are essentially the same as those who posted those impressive numbers last season. So, what’s changed since?

The absence of Sergio Busquets has been felt. Before leaving to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, the midfielder was responsible for providing Barca with balance in attack and defence. He regularly provided cover for the centre-backs and prevented them from being exposed — Oriol Romeu’s summer signing from Girona has failed to fill that hole.

Gavi’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury has left Barca’s centre-backs with even less protection. When fit, the 19-year-old midfielder helps out his defence by tracking back and getting stuck into tackles. Without those two players in the centre of the park, they look more vulnerable.

The scatter graph below shows just how stark the change has been from the league-winning campaign. Barca are conceding a lot more goals (1.38 per game compared to 0.53 last season) and expected goals (xG of 1.13 compared to 0.88), although the goals decline is much steeper — meaning they are conceding more opportunities than last season, but not enough to justify how many more goals they are conceding.

They have conceded more shots per game (10.8 compared to 8.7 last season) and are also allowing opponents to have slightly more of the ball in advanced areas (59.8 passes against in the attacking third versus 52 last season).

While players across Xavi’s squad look low on confidence and are far below the level they showed last season, that is particularly clear in defence. In several press conferences, Barca’s outgoing head coach has criticised his side’s defensive errors.

“Defensive mistakes are killing us,” Xavi said after Barca’s 3-3 draw against Granada at the weekend.

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The worst defensive performance of the season came in the 4-1 Supercopa de Espana final loss against Madrid in Saudi Arabia. Vinicius Junior scored two quickfire goals in the opening 10 minutes of that game after Barca attempted to play a high line and were caught out.

For the Brazilian’s opening strike in the seventh minute, their four-man defence initially looks well organised before the ball arrives at Jude Bellingham’s feet. Andreas Christensen jumps out of position to press the Englishman and his centre-back partner Jules Kounde fails to play Vinicius Jr offside. The Frenchman can’t keep up with the winger, who runs onto Bellingham’s pass and rounds Inaki Pena for an easy finish.

Barca’s defence were pulled apart in much the same way three minutes later. This time, Dani Carvajal is allowed to find Rodrygo with a long ball over the top — with right-back Ronald Araujo, on the far side, playing the forward onside. Rodrygo has acres of space to run into and squares for Vinicius Jr to slide home Madrid’s second.

But while Barca’s collective defensive structure has often been lacking, individuals have also played their part.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was arguably their best player last season. His saves were key in closing out results and he conceded 18 times in La Liga — with his 26 clean sheets equalling former Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper Paco Liano’s Spanish record for a single campaign.

Barca missed Ter Stegen when he was out for two and a half months following back surgery in December. His replacement, Pena, started well: he impressed in a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid and even surprised his team-mates with how he stepped up.

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But little by little the team’s low self-esteem appears to have rubbed off on the 24-year-old Pena. He has started to look fearful in recent games, sometimes staying rooted to his line. That hesitation has led to some avoidable goals — such as against Las Palmas last month and in the Copa del Rey quarter-final defeat against Athletic Bilbao.

Pena conceded 15 goals in the 10 La Liga games he deputised for Ter Stegen before his return last weekend — the German conceded 20 in 38 during the title-winning campaign. Eleven of Barca’s last 18 shots on target conceded have resulted in goals, with eight of those let in by Pena. While there are other factors at play, the steepness of Barca’s goals conceded decline compared to that of their xG could be put down to the difference in goalkeepers.

At full-back, Joao Cancelo’s arrival on loan from Manchester City was heralded as finally giving Barca a ‘pure’ full-back who could be used on the right — even if the Portugal international had been used more regularly at left-back. It also meant Kounde could return to central defence instead of playing at right-back, as he had wanted to for all of last season.

But that formula has not worked. Cancelo and Alejandro Balde on the left are attacking full-backs and the team suffers when they are in the same team. Cancelo has looked shaky when defending and Xavi’s attempts to try him in a range of other positions — including as a right-sided midfielder, a left-winger or a right-winger — have not improved his performances.

The City loanee, who recently returned from a knee ligament injury, was particularly poor against Granada. He was exposed for the Andalusians’ first two goals: he stuck a boot out to try and prevent the cross for Ricard Sanchez’s effort and failed to put any pressure on Facundo Pellistri as the on-loan Manchester United winger turned home Granada’s second.

Kounde has been similarly passive at times this campaign. He asked Xavi to play in his preferred centre-back position this season but returned to right-back after Cancelo’s injury last month and his own poor performances. An error-strewn game against Madrid in that Supercopa final made up Xavi’s mind — Kounde has not started in central defence since.

Xavi has spoken of a lack of toughness in his defenders and the downturn has also affected two of last season’s most consistent performers: Balde and Araujo.

Balde succeeded in benching club legend Jordi Alba last campaign and was a revelation at left-back. That led to the 20-year-old receiving a late call-up to the Spain squad for the Qatar World Cup but he has been far from his best this season.

Araujo, meanwhile, was Barca’s best centre-back en route to that league title, but has also looked out of sorts. In recent years, he has been Vinicius Jr’s kryptonite in Clasicos, but the Brazilian overshadowed him in January’s Supercopa final, provoking his sending off for a second yellow card in the 71st minute.

Then there is Christensen, the centre-back who played a pivotal role in the La Liga win after his free transfer from Chelsea. His best performances this season have come when playing as a defensive midfielder, an experiment Xavi has tried in recent games given Romeu’s problems in that role.

Some defenders have emerged with credit so far this season. Barca signed Inigo Martinez from Athletic on a free transfer last summer and have lost just once with him on the pitch (the 2-1 loss against Madrid in October’s home league Clasico). The 32-year-old’s recent time out with a thigh injury coincided with the team’s slump.

And two 17-year-olds have benefitted from the chaos at the back: Hector Fort and Pau Cubarsi, graduates of the club’s famed La Masia academy.

Fort impressed at full-back in the Copa quarter-final against Athletic, coming on for the injured Balde and giving Barca some hope. Despite preferring to play at right-back, he looked comfortable on the left.

Cubarsi has shown fine judgement since making his first-team debut in the Copa against lower-league Unionistas de Salamanca last month — so much so that some now consider him to be a starter. He is a centre-back in the traditional Barca mould, with confident passing to go with good defensive traits.

Cubarsi was partly responsible for Granada’s second goal, when he inadvertently headed to striker Myrto Uzuni to cross for Pellistri. That may have been the result of a miscommunication with his older defensive partner Kounde.

Even so, Barcelona’s reliance on teenage defenders gives an indication of their issues at the back — and they don’t look like going away anytime soon.

(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)