After a long time, FC Barcelona is building on old successes again and has reinvented itself to do so. No other first division club in the world concedes so few goals per game.
Under Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona was once the most successful club team in the world. The 52-year-old coached the Catalans from 2008 to 2012, during which time the club won three championships and two cups in Spain, as well as two Champions League winners, two club world champions and two European Supercup winners.
Xavi makes Barca successful again in his own way
A unique offensive made these successes possible. With his “Tiki Taka”, Guardiola formed a team that could hardly be stopped by any opponent, and in Lionel Messi he had what is probably the world’s best player, who often decided games on his own.
Guardiola’s extended arm at the time was captain Xavi Hernandez. The former midfield director is now the club’s coach and seems to have brought him back to Guardiola’s spheres after a few problematic years – albeit with a completely different concept.
Although Barca is by far the most dominant team in La Liga with 68.2 percent ball possession, even under Xavi, the showpiece of the team is the defensive. The Spanish leaders have conceded just seven goals in 22 games, putting them eight points ahead of Real Madrid and on the verge of their first league title since the 2018/19 season. Barca have only conceded one league goal this year, playing against FC Cadiz (2-0) in their seventh game on Sunday (02/19/2023) to zero for the sixth time.
No first division team conceded fewer goals
Only in the only defeat of the season at Real (1: 3) did the Catalans concede more than one goal, 17 times was zero. Figures that are unparalleled anywhere in the world. Of all the top division clubs that have played at least ten games in their leagues this season (South America, Northern Europe and parts of Asia are currently on hiatus or the season has just started), Barcelona have the best with an average of 0.32 goals conceded per game defense of the world.
| FC Barcelona (Spain) | 0.32 goals conceded/game | 7 goals in 22 games |
|---|---|---|
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) | 0.33 | 7 in 21 |
Al-Ittihad FC Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) | 0.35 | 6 in 17 |
Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) | 0.36 | 8 in 22 |
The New Saints (Wales) | 0.36 | 8 in 22 |
Bangkok United (Thailand) | 0.40 | 8 in 20 |
Hamrun Spartans (Malta) | 0.40 | 8 in 20 |
Europa FC (Gibraltar) | 0.40 | 4 in 10 |
No team from the European top leagues can even come close to keeping up, the second-best defenses of SSC Napoli and Newcastle United (each 0.65 goals conceded per game) conceded more than twice as many league goals.
| FC Barcelona (Spain) | 0.32 goals conceded/game | 7 goals in 22 games |
|---|---|---|
SSC Napoli (Italy) | 0.65 | 15 in 23 |
Newcastle United (England) | 0.65 | 15 in 23 |
RC Lens (France) | 0.79 | 19 into 24 |
Bayern Munich (Germany) | 1.0 | 21 in 21 |
“He has a plan for every situation”
A big factor in this is the performance of Marc-André ter Stegen. The goalkeeper, who became the team’s fourth captain at the end of 2022, is having what is probably the best season of his career. Above all, Ter Stegen blames his coach and the effects of his work on the team for the success.
“Xavi came and had a plan to get back upstairs as soon as possible. Now everyone sees the results step by step. He has a plan for every situation“, the 30-year-old recently told the “Guardian” and explained what makes the team: “Whether young or experienced – everyone has a voice and really matters. That inspires confidence and it’s nice to see that the young players are really enjoying themselves.” In addition, according to ter Stegen, the team has the ability “to suffer in complicated moments“.
“Mia san mia” in Catalan
In addition to his tactics, Xavi also relies on identification with the club and, as an ex-captain, understands perfectly how to inoculate the players with the Barca gene. “I learned so much with the arrival of him because he gave us back the Barca philosophy that had been lost in recent years. I’m the one who learned the most, but the whole team has changed and you can see that in the resultsDefender Ronald Araujo told Spanish news agency EFE.
Thanks to the passing artists Pedri, Gavi, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong, Barca keep the ball in their own ranks and their opponents well away from their own goal. With Jules Koundé (FC Sevilla), Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso (both FC Chelsea), the team was also strengthened with defensive specialists. Xavi meticulously ensures that the team never loses control of itself and the game, tactical discipline is paramount and is the reason for the new Barca ‘mia san mia’.
Is the defense also top internationally?
The only problem: this has not necessarily been the case for international competitions so far. The Catalans flew out of the Champions League without a hitch. Only two wins against Viktoria Pilsen, against Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, the team took just one point and conceded a total of twelve goals in the six games in the group stage.
“It didn’t work out in Europe. We weren’t really stable back then. A lot of new players came before and we had to find our structure a bitsaid Ter Stegen.Since then I think we’ve made progress.“
But even in the first leg of the second round in the Europa League against Manchester United, the defense was not solid. Barca took the lead at 2-2, but conceded two goals shortly afterwards. In the second leg on Thursday (02/23/2023) at Old Trafford, it will be important for the best defensive in the world to prove that it is not only at national level.