Barcelona’s defeat against Atlético de Madrid already equals last season’s defeats

Barcelona’s recent performances under Hansi Flick have been disappointing, with the team suffering a series of defeats despite not necessarily playing poorly. The recent one was against Atlético de Madrid at home.

Their current run is difficult, having won only one of their last seven league games, with two draws and five defeats.

This results in just five points out of a possible 21, leaving them well behind the league leaders and undermining the good start to the season that raised expectations.

The form at home is worrying

The team’s form at home has been particularly worrying, with three consecutive defeats. This marks the worst home run for the club in recent times, matching similar streaks from 1965 and 1987.

Furthermore, Barcelona has conceded at least one goal in each of their last eight La Liga gamestheir worst defensive streak since the 2018 season, when they conceded goals in 11 consecutive games.

Looking at the big picture, Barcelona have suffered five defeats in the league, most of them in the last month and a half. Before this tough period, they had only lost once, against Osasuna.

However, in just over a month they have lost against Real Sociedad (0-1), Las Palmas (1-2), Leganés (0-1) and Atlético de Madrid (1-2). This has left fans wondering how the team’s fortunes have changed so dramatically.

Comparing with Xavi’s Barcelona

To put these losses into context, if we compare this season to last year, The team already has as many defeats in 19 games as they did during the entire 38-game campaign with Xavi.

In the 2022/23 season, in which Barcelona won the La Liga title, they lost six times, just one more than their current total. Last season’s defeats came against Real Madrid (1-2 and 3-2), Girona (2-4 and 4-2) and Villarreal (3-5).

A key difference between Xavi’s Barcelona last season and Flick’s team this year is the number of draws. This season, Barcelona has only achieved two draws, compared to the seven they achieved last year.

The tendency for the results to be a win or a loss may be due to Flick’s aggressive playing style.

The coach’s approach is focused on attacking and taking risks, always seeking to take down the opposition, which has often led to matches being decided by narrow margins.