Barcelona came into the November international fixtures with a disappointing result, falling 1-0 to Takefusa Kubo’s Real Sociedad, and they are now starting the return to club play with another poor performance in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo.
The Blaugrana started the match promising enough with trademark goals from superstars Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, but Lamine Yamal’s absence loomed large again as Barca failed to kill the game off before collapsing late to share the spoils, opening up the chance for Real Madrid to close the gap with a 3-0 win over Leganes on Sunday.
Here are three lessons Barcelona need to learn after back-to-back negative results in La Liga.
Still lacking attacking depth
Yamal is arguably the best player in the world already, and while it is understandable that a player of his caliber’s absence would hurt Barcelona deeply, you’d think that the best team in European football right now would be able to beat a perennial mid-table side like Celta Vigo without a 17-year-old forward.
Instead, Barcelona were, once again, too narrow and uninvolved in one-on-ones, struggling to get penetration in key moments of the game. It says a lot that the standard drops so precipitously when Yamal is not there.
Barcelona may have the best attacking trident in world football right now, but when you look closer at the squad beyond the names Raphinha, Yamal, and Lewandowski, you begin to see an issue that has plagued this club for years.
If you want to win the two big competitions in club football consistently, you need depth. And Barcelona do not have any attacking depth. If Lewandowski were to go down at striker, Barcelona would be screwed, because they have absolutely nothing behind him besides Pau Victor, who isn’t even a true striker.
Yamal’s absence is bad enough, and while Raphinha is a great right winger in his own right, Barcelona don’t even have a top right-footed left winger. Victor has potential but isn’t there yet, while Ferran Torres is arguably the worst player in the squad and someone Barca should have sold for pennies yesterday.
Barcelona sold Marc Guiu for almost nothing to Chelsea, and they replaced Joao Felix with a ghost. Dani Olmo is not a left winger. They have about five great attacking midfielders and no width out wide, nor any goal-scoring depth on the bench to turn the tide when they need it.
Goals are the last of Barca’s problems in most games, but without the width and dynamism of Yamal on the wing, you begin to see the real cracks in the squad that are concerning when it comes to performing at the elite level across a full season.
Right back must remain a priority
Barcelona have been waffling on the long-term future of their right back position, as they have an intriguing prospect in Hector Fort who is getting starts this season, while Jules Kounde had everyone going gaga with a hat trick of assists in his last European outing.
Kounde added another assist against Celta Vigo with a beautiful bomb from deep to Raphinha, but he also cost the team with a horrible error. As great as he is as an emergency right back, he’s just that: an emergency option and not someone who should be starting every week for a team that aspires to be the best in the world.
Fort isn’t ready to start at the highest level for Barcelona either. It made sense for Barca to avoid spending a huge amount of cash on the very flawed Joao Cancelo, but they are going to have to sign an actual right back.
Kounde’s performances against low quality opposition should not be used as a means to prop him up as a satisfactory solution. Barcelona have to aim higher, and, rest assured, they will, as Hansi Flick literally quit his last club job in part because his sporting director signed Bouna Sarr as his right back upgrade.
Regression and the pains of youth
Barcelona know what it means to regress to the mean, because they went from La Liga champions in 2022/23 behind an unsustainable xG underperformance defensively to being completely blown out of any title race in 2023/24 by Real Madrid.
None of this is to say that Barcelona will be doomed to come second to a more flawed Real Madrid side in 2024/25 (sans Toni Kroos), but it is to say that Barcelona aren’t going to be able to blow every team out 5-0.
Opponents are already adjusting, as La Real did, and even when Lamine Yamal comes back, the smart managers of La Liga will be ready to pounce on the weaknesses out wide in the Barca formation.
Barcelona are going to suffer accordingly, but they are also going to suffer because their squad is still so young. Disciplinary issues, ball security problems, defensive lapses, finishing woes, and an uneven bench are some of the issues Hansi Flick can anticipate becoming bigger talking points this season.
The honeymoon period will wear off for Flick, and these displays against Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad are a reminder that an injury to a superstar like Yamal can reveal underlying issues that will be a harbinger for bigger challenges later in the manager’s reign.
