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Title : Top Four Reasons Barcelona Were Unable To Defend The Trophy
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Top Four Reasons Barcelona Were Unable To Defend The Trophy

With the exception of Samuel Umtiti, none of Barcelona’s six signings have been able to hold down a regular place in the side.

Jasper Cillessen, to be fair to him, hasn’t had much of an opportunity. However Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Lucas Digne and Paco Alcacer could have offered more this campaign.

Real Madrid’s strength in depth pulled them out of several holes but when Barcelona played their reserve players in numbers they suffered.

Fittingly five of the summer signings were sat on the bench for Barcelona’s clash with Eibar, with only Umtiti starting.

1. Dependency on the MSN

Through the three years Luis Enrique has been in charge, Barcelona have become more dependent on their MSN forward line.

Again the trio scored over a century of goals for the club this season, but not as many as in the two years preceding.

That has sometimes left the team looking lost for ideas when the MSN cannot break down the walls confronting the Blaugrana.

While rivals Madrid have procured goals from everywhere, with defenders and midfielders chipping in, Barcelona have not been blessed with the same.

2. Lacking motivation

Messi was the league's top scorer - but he, Neymar and Suarez can't do everything (Photo: David Ramos/ Getty Images)
The hard thing isn’t winning, but winning again. And again.

Barcelona at times this season looked like they were lacking the appetite and motivation to win the title for the third season running.

That is not manifested in the big games, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and drawing against them at Camp Nou, doing the same against Atletico too, but in the little ones. Unbeaten against the top eight, Barcelona dropped points against the league’s lesser sides.

Losing at home against Alaves, away at Deportivo La Coruna, Malaga and Celta Vigo was what killed their title tilt.
They nearly slipped up here too, but a final flurry saw them come back from two goals down to win.

3. The right-back gap

A replacement for Dani Alves? Not quite... (Photo: Getty Images Europe)
Barcelona didn’t sign a right-back last summer, believing midfielder Sergi Roberto could fill the gap left by Dani Alves.

That was shown not to be the case by a string of mistakes by the homegrown Barcelona man—although his last-gasp strike against PSG in the Champions League redeemed him—and the coach had to change formation to one without full-backs.

Even this match, with Gomes coming on for Sergi Roberto at full-back at half-time, exposes the problems Barcelona have there. It was Roberto who was not alert to stop Takashi Inui opening the scoring in the seventh minute.

Meanwhile Alves showed the club they were wrong to let him go with a string of sensational performances that has taken them to the Champions League final and helped them win the Italian title.

4. Midfield woes


Andres Iniesta remains from the glory days (Photo: Getty Images Europe)
For so many years Barcelona’s play was defined by their midfield trio. Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.

However with Iniesta’s injuries and struggle to find his best form and Busquets’ own dire string of form in the first half of the campaign, Barcelona’s midfield has become one of their weak points.

Even during the winter period Ivan Rakitic seemed to be out of favour with Luis Enrique, while Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez offered little when asked to fill in.

The task for Barcelona’s next manager, with Luis Enrique departing after the Copa del Rey final, will be restoring prominence to the midfield while still managing to draw on what the attackers have to offer.

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