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Barcelona lagging behind in one key defensive aspect despite their attacking prowess

Although the results have not exactly been in their favor for the last few weeks in La Liga, FC Barcelona have still maintained their attacking momentum to a good extent. Even in the matches that the Blaugranes have failed to win, they have been able to score goals, as was the case against Celta Vigo, Las Palmas, and Real Betis.

In total, the Catalans have scored 68 goals in all competitions. In La Liga, they have already reached the 50-goal mark in their first 17 games, and are 16 goals ahead of the second-highest scorers, Real Madrid.

However, the team’s defense has not been as good as the offense, and they have also conceded more goals than the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Athletic Club, Rayo Vallecano, and Getafe.

In fact, Mundo Deportivo notes that Barcelona have been able to keep a clean sheet in only two of their last 10 games, against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and against Stade Brestois at the Montjuic.

One reason for this could have been the absence of the starting goalkeeper for Hansi Flick, as Marc Andre Ter Stegen has not been able to play following the match against Villarreal, and he is also set to remain on the sidelines till the end of the season.

Inaki Pena has kept a clean sheet in only 5 of his 10 games as a starter this season, but he cannot be blamed too much for this predicament of the team as Ter Stegen had also kept only 1 clean sheet in his 7 games this season.

Thus, this seems to be more of a team problem, which is quite natural because of the style of play that Hansi Flick has adopted for his Barcelona team. Hopefully, there will be an improvement in this regard as the likes of Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen make their returns to the field.