COMMENT: Luis Enrique's side were made to look ordinary against
Malaga at Camp Nou and their latest loss raises serious doubts over
their recent return to form
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
Back to square one for Barcelona. After 11 straight wins and some
superb showings in recent weeks, Luis Enrique's side ran into a brick
wall against Malaga on Saturday - for the second time this season. And
as Manchester City await in the Champions League on Tuesday, the
signs are very worrying indeed.
Malaga frustrated Barca back in September at La Rosaleda, when the
Catalans failed to register a single shot on target. However, Luis
Enrique said on Friday: "We are a different team now."
But are they really? Barca's first effort on target this time came via a
Luis Suarez header just short of the seven-minute mark. And 15
seconds later, they were behind as Dani Alves' awful back-pass fell
way short of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and Juanmi kept his cool to
round the Chilean and net as Jordi Alba sprinted back to try and save
his fellow full-back.
It was a gift of a goal, but Barca's high line can be prone to such
attacks. Malaga gave the home side problems all afternoon with their
quick breaks from deep positions and their intense pressing high up the
pitch. If the two league games had been a knockout tie, the Andalusians
would have triumphed. Barca, be warned.
"Mistakes are made by the team as a whole and by the coach first and
foremost," Luis Enrique said afterwards. "We never focus on
individuals."
Perhaps more concerning than the nature of the goal and how it was
conceded, however, was the fact that Barca barely looked like scoring
in a match at home against a supposedly limited rival.
Indeed, this match evoked memories of the 1-0 loss at Camp Nou
against Celta Vigo in early November, when Luis Enrique's side
huffed and puffed but were stifled with relative ease and ultimately
created very little.
"It's a harmful result for us," Luis Enrique said. "Malaga played a
good game. I'd like to say it was an accident, but I will judge that over
time. This is a defeat that I believe may even have been deserved."
Bigger teams will likely come out and attack more than Malaga. The
Andalusians defended desperately with 11 men behind the ball at times
and played very much on the edge with a number of niggly tactical fouls
at key moments.
But Barca should be used to that by now and with the world's finest
forwards in their midst, much more was expected. Instead, Lionel
Messi was working wonders out wide, only to see his good work
wasted as soon as he found a team-mate in the centre. Arguably, that's
where he should have been all along, although the lack of space
afforded by Malaga's defenders made it difficult. And as the afternoon
wore on, Barca's best player dropped deeper and deeper - which is
rarely a positive sign.
So nothing new for the Catalans. Without Messi's heroics to see them
through this one, Luis Enrique's side were made to look ordinary and
this latest loss means they are likely to find themselves four points adrift
of league leaders Real Madrid on Sunday, with the title out of their
hands once again.
The defeat to Malaga is also the worst possible preparation for
Tuesday's trip to City in the Champions League, especially with
Manuel Pellegrini's men free-scoring in their own fixture against
Newcastle on Saturday. So despite all their good work in recent
weeks, Barca are back to square one and they now need to prove
themselves all over again. What a waste.
Source http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4082/editorial/2015/02/21/9153272/barcelona-back-to-square-one-and-show-free-scoring-city-they-are-

Man city can never win barca...