Barça finished the season blank and with an unprecedented fact: they didn’t score a single free-kick. Since Messi marked the last one at Mestalla on May 2, Barça have not transformed a single one again. A black streak that already amounts to 57 games, the last four of last year and the 53 of this one, in which the box is still blank.
Until last season, a foul in the area in favor of Barça was synonymous with danger. Leo He scored 50 goals like these with the Barça shirt, a specialty in which he shone especially in his last seasons, causing rival coaches to use their ingenuity to try to deactivate the effectiveness of the Argentine pitcher. Placing players next to the posts or, to fight their shots under the barrier, putting a football player lying on the ground. Now, although this custom is maintained in all fields, the danger has dissipated when the culer pitcher on duty tries.
Memphis, Pique, Alba, Alves, Dembele…
Memphis, backed by goals he had scored on a set piece with the Netherlands and Olympique de Lyon, had started the season with a free kick. But until he was injured he was unable to transform any of them. In his absence, Pique, Alba, Alves and Dembele they tried their luck, though they were unsuccessful.
“We’ve been working on it in training. It is true that we do not have a clear specialist, but many players can throw fouls very well; We have to try it “, said Xavi in his day. The technician pointed out that Pedri, Ferran Torres i Frenkie de Jong they also shoot very well in training, although they have not been encouraged in official matches. «Messi did not throw fouls until Tito vilanova he told her, when she was 20 or 21, to try to do it and then she became the best free-kicker in recent years.
Bad luck was about to break against Galatasaray at the Camp Nou, however Iñaki Peña, from the Barça team on loan from the Turkish team, repelled the Memphis shot. The curse already lasts 42 league games, in addition to two in the Cup, one in the Super Cup, six in the Champions League and six more in the Europa League. Looking ahead to next season, Barça will need, among other things, to find a specialist who will continue the saga of great foul throwers, such as Rivaldo (18 as Barça), Ronaldinho (20), Koeman (26) and Messi ( 50).
