For FC Barcelona to succeed both domestically and on the European stage, the team needs to be direct and precise. At the start of the season, that is exactly what the Catalan giants were managing to showcase. However, as time went on, it became clear that Barcelona were simply not performing at that level anymore.
In recent games, such as the one against Atletico Madrid, Hansi Flick’s team did almost everything right. They dominated the game, created chances, and exploited the weaknesses of their opponents and greatly limited them. Unfortunately, however, one thing constantly kept letting them down.
As highlighted by SPORT, Barcelona have been consistently and rather significantly been let down by their own poor finishing and inability to convert chances. Despite being the league’s top scorers this season, La Blaugrana are also incredibly wasteful in front of goal.
In La Liga, Barcelona have 51 goals to their name but they are also the best big chance generators in the First Division as well with 85 big chances created. This is thanks to the fact that two of the league’s best chance creators are playing for the team, namely Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
At the same time, however, Flick’s team has been quite wasteful as well. With 50 big chances missed, Barcelona are the La Liga with the most such chances wasted or missed this season. To put this number into context, Real Madrid have scored 41 goals this season but they have generated only 58 clear chances this season compared to Barça’s 85.
In games such as the one against Atletico Madrid or Leganes, where the Catalan giants lost due to marginal differences, good finishing could have saved them. However, with Robert Lewandowski definitely facing issues in front of goal in recent games, it is easy to understand where these problems originate from.
While there are undoubtedly other issues that Hansi Flick and his coaching staff will need to address over the course of the holidays, fixing their ability to be clinical in front of goal could help Barça reach new heights again. However, the manager does have not have a lot of time working in his favor.