Despite having met most of their objectives for the first half of the season, it is clear that not everything is well at FC Barcelona. The Catalans have qualified for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League after a break of two years, and are in the race for all the titles this season, but a lot remains to be desired from Xavi’s team.
The team is currently trailing the league leaders Real Madrid and Girona by seven points, and its performances on the pitch have also been far from encouraging. There have been problems both in the attack and defence that Xavi needs to solve going forward.
In the attack, one of the most potent problems for the team has been a lack of effectiveness in front of goal. As Xavi himself lamented in a media talk recently, Barcelona have been performing very well below expectations in this aspect, and a lot of blame for this problem has been laid at Robert Lewandowski’s feet, who is the main striker of the team.
It is clear that the Pole is not going through one of his best scoring seasons, as he has scored only three goals in his last eleven league games. Xavi replaced him in the last match even though his team needed a goal to get the full three points against Las Palmas, showing the decreasing confidence of the head coach in the Pole’s abilities.
While the question mark on Lewandowski’s form cannot be doubted, Mundo Deportivo has noticed another trend that can be contributing significantly to the low number of goals that Lewandowski is registering with Barcelona.
Data compiled by Mundo Deportivo shows that of the 42 goals that the Pole has scored in his one-and-a-half season at Barcelona, only five were assisted by midfielders. 15 of these goals were assisted by defenders, while other attackers assisted the Pole for 13 of these goals.
In the current season, none of Lewandowski’s nine goals have been assisted by a midfielder. This disconnection between the midfield and the main attacker of the team can be one of the causes for the low number of goals by Barcelona, and Xavi will have to work on this aspect to improve the numbers for his team.
