Barcelona are navigating a difficult stretch after two heavy defeats threatened to derail what had been a near-perfect start to the season. A 4-2 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain was quickly followed by a 2-1 El Clasico defeat at home to Real Madrid, ending an unbeaten nine-match run in LaLiga. Despite those setbacks, the club sit top of the table on 27 points, three ahead of Atletico Madrid, with a home game against Deportivo Alaves on October 31 offering a chance to stabilise.

The response from within the squad has been telling. Captain Raphinha and Rodri organised a player-led barbecue at the training ground, a bonding session that Mundo Deportivo described as an emotional reset designed to rebuild unity ahead of a demanding fixture run. Manager Hansi Flick also gave the squad a two-day break after the Clasico, according to SPORT, with fatigue and a disrupted travel schedule cited as factors behind the dip in performance levels.

Defensively, Flick faces real problems. Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen are both sidelined, and Jules Kounde is in a race to be fit. Those absences leave the backline stretched at exactly the wrong moment, with fixtures against Aston Villa in Europe and a trip to Atletico in early November to follow the Alaves game. President Joan Laporta has urged calm, telling Marca that the squad's youth and resilience make a recovery entirely possible, and that the club's ambitions in LaLiga and the Champions League remain intact.