Barcelona fear another slip when they host Deportivo Alavés this Saturday evening in La Liga. Defeat would drag them back to a nightmare scenario the Catalan faithful would rather forget.
Hansi Flick's side want to steady themselves against Alavés, a task made all the more pressing by the fact that it comes at the Camp Nou in the 11th round of La Liga.
Having stormed through the start of the season with 11 wins across all competitions, Barcelona have now lost two matches on the bounce.
Paris Saint-Germain inflicted the first wound, beating Barça 4-2 in the third round of the Champions League league phase. Real Madrid followed up by winning the Clásico 2-1 in the 10th round of the domestic competition.
A defeat to Alavés would mark the first time the Catalans have lost three official matches in a row in a single season since 2015-16, under Luis Enrique.
Back then, Barcelona endured a miserable spell between 9 and 17 April 2016. That was 10 and a half years ago.
The slide began with a 1-0 loss away to Real Sociedad in the 32nd round of La Liga. Atlético Madrid then struck next, winning the Champions League quarter-final second leg 2-0 on their own turf to knock Barça out, having lost 2-1 in the first leg in Catalonia.
Valencia completed the collapse, beating Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou in the 33rd round of the Spanish league.