Barcelona succumbed to their second defeat of the ongoing UEFA Champions League last night when they lost 3-0 to Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge.
Having already been beaten by PSG earlier in the competition and being held to a draw against Club Brugge, the Blaugrana find themselves in a difficult position in terms of securing a top-eight finish and direct qualification to the knockouts.
53-game streak ends
The 3-0 defeat against Chelsea not only damaged the club’s chances of reaching the top eight in the Champions League, but also ended a record that had held for almost a year.
Indeed, with the defeat, the Blaugrana saw their streak of 53 games in which they had scored a goal come to an end.
Since the 1-0 defeat against Leganes on 15 December 2024, Hansi Flick’s team had not finished a match without scoring. That run was broken at Stamford Bridge.
Last night was not easy for the Catalans as they had to play nearly 55 minutes with a man down after Ronald Araujo was sent off with a second yellow card in the first half.
Chelsea, who had been in control of the game even before the red card, grew even more dominant and did not allow Flick’s side any way back, with their goalscoring streak of 53 games now coming to a halt.
Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona with Hansi Flick
Barcelona struggled vs Chelsea. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Out of the 53 consecutive matches in which Barcelona had scored, 33 were in La Liga. So, the domestic streak is still alive, and the team are aiming for the target of 37 straight league games scoring, a mark achieved by Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona in 2019.
As such, the La Liga champions must score against Alaves, Atletico Madrid, Real Betis, Osasuna, and Villarreal if they want to surpass the current record.
More streaks fall
Meanwhile, Barcelona’s defeat against Chelsea also ended their 24-game scoring streak in the UEFA Champions League.
The last time that the Catalans failed to find the back of the net in a Champions League encounter was in November 2023, against Shakhtar Donetsk in a 1-0 defeat under Xavi Hernandez.
It also marks the first time in 19 matches that the team has failed to find the back of the net in a Champions League game under the tutelage of Flick.
In fact, this was the first time a team coached by Flick failed to score in a Champions League match.
The result also marks the heaviest Champions League loss of Flick’s coaching career. With Bayern Munich, he lost only once in 18 matches in the competition.
Since taking over at Barça, Flick has coached 19 matches in total. He has now lost five, though never before by a three-goal margin.