Lionel Messi broke innumerable records at FC Barcelona, building a legacy that promises never to be rivaled in the near future. Unsurprisingly, his departure in 2021 still has the club struggling in certain aspects during the post-Messi era.
FC Barcelona have attempted to plug the holes with many signings and implementing a return to their roots, but free-kicks remain a characteristic the club has yet to make up for. After Messi marked his debut for Inter Miami with a last-minute free-kick game-winner, the light was once again shed on the Blaugranes’ failure in that regard.
According to Mundo Deportivo, it has been more than 800 days now since the Catalans scored off a free-kick. Barcelona’s final goal came from a direct free kick by Leo Messi. With that goal, the club defeated Valencia 3-2. Since then, they have had no luck in this aspect, with two seasons of unsuccessful free-kick attempts.
In the next season after Leo’s departure, Memphis was handed this responsibility. Despite success with free kicks at Lyon, he had a barren spell in Catalonia. Last season, with many specialist free-kick takers in the ranks, expectations undeniably rose, yet the club failed to reverse their ailing fortunes.
Lewandowski accepted the challenge the previous year. He was a prolific free-kick taker at Bayern with 5 goals, but at Barcelona, those strengths came to no avail. Raphinha and Marcos Alonso, who also thrived in this aspect in the Premier League, could not deliver results after moving to the Blaugranes.
Still, Barcelona continues to bank on their experienced free-kick takers, hoping to put the drought to an end at last. Gundogan, who has scored a number of free-kicks for the Cityzens, and Inigo Martnez, another player with a free-kick goal last season, were both bought by FC Barcelona this summer.
Lewandowski, Alonso, Raphinha, Inigo Martinez, and Gundogan will be handed the responsibility to finally end this ongoing drought. Who manages to stay higher in the pecking order will come down to Xavi’s preference, but one of the aforementioned players will be tasked to break the deadlock.
