Gerard Pique, in typically caustic fashion, claimed Real Madrid’s performance in the first half was one of the worst he had ever seen at Santiago Bernabeu . The burning question, then, after Barcelona’s 2-0 defeat on Sunday that allowed Madrid to overtake them at the top of La Liga, is: What does that say about Pique’s team?
Barcelona are sick.
They failed to take advantage of Madrid’s defensive lapses in the first half, spurning three crystal-clear first half chances. Antoine Griezmann fired over the bar from a tempting cut-back, Lionel Messi shot straight at Thibaut Courtois and Arthur, when clean through, was denied by the Belgium goalkeeper.
More worryingly in the second half Messi was sent in on goal but Marcelo kept up with the Argentine and helped dispossess him. Barcelona’s captain and talisman left the Bernabeu hurting, head down.
As well as putting Madrid ahead by a point - two effectively, now they have the better head-to-head record - the defeat confirms a number of worrying trends, or creates new ones. Barcelona have only managed one clean sheet in 13 away games, back on December 1 at Atletico Madrid, who are mired in problems of their own.
Messi himself is suffering on the road, failing to score in seven away games running. That last happened in the 2006-07 season, when he was but a teenager.
This is the first time Barcelona have failed to score in consecutive Clasicos since 1974-75, signalling, perhaps, the end of their era of domestic dominance over Real Madrid. Barcelona had boasted a fantastic recent record at the Bernabeu, nicknamed the ‘BernaLeo’ by some fans, where their previous defeat came back in 2014. The Catalans had scored on every visit there in the league since October 2006. Pique himself said that Barcelona did not find it fun winning in the Spanish capital any more after some emphatic victories in recent years.
Things have changed.
Maybe Quique Setien is a good enough coach to stay at the helm, maybe he isn’t, but what is increasingly clear is that Ernesto Valverde’s sacking and the Cantabrian’s appointment is a band-aid over a wound which needs stitches, or even surgery.
Messi looked more alone than ever at the Bernabeu, betrayed by a directionless Barcelona, torn between different ideologies. Griezmann was brought in to recreate the attacking trident that helped the club soar in Luis Enrique’s day, effectively the Neymar replacement after their bet on Ousmane Dembele failed, but he still looks out of place.
(C) Getty ImagesLucho's Barcelona were a side that would roll with the punches, suffering at the back but destroying in attack, far from what Setien wants his team to look like.
Griezmann’s quality means he has still been able to make some important contributions, like the away goal that kept Barcelona’s Champions League dream alive in Naples last week, but they have been outliers, rather than his norm. The France forward has not fit in because there is nothing clear to fit in to.
Setien has brought possession back but there is still no apparent gameplan forming, other than relying on Messi’s supernatural ability. Messi may actually be sick too. Well, injured. Stories have persisted over the last few weeks over a niggling thigh problem which is keeping him from his very best.
Getty ImagesBarcelona desperately need speed in attack and the targeting of Neymar and Lautaro Martinez is a bid to remedy that, although bringing the former back may just prolong the problem.
The idea that Barcelona’s game should be based on having the ball and controlling matches will not go away, so incorporating the chaos of Neymar will maintain the confusion at the club. Messi may want Neymar back, to ease the attacking burden on him, but it may not be the right move in the medium to long term. If the forward returns then Barcelona will have to build around him, when they should be constructing their project around Frenkie De Jong.
The former Ajax player has impressed this season, though like Griezmann he does not have a set position or role. In the Clasico he was largely playing on the left of midfield.
“He’s not a goalscorer,” said Erik ten Hag, De Jong’s coach in the Eredivisie, sceptical of Setien’s use of his former charge. “He is the player who is in charge of supplying the team-mates who give the assists or who score goals from their position.”
Barcelona must accept that De Jong is the future, deploy him in his favoured deeper role and then build the rest of the team around him. That will also make the inevitably harrowing transition easier when Messi finally hangs up his boots.
Nothing can stop that hurting Barcelona, but if the club are still utterly dependent on the 32-year-old (33 in June) when he eventually leaves, it will be the death of them.