One day the Barça history books will write about the strange case that befell Barça in the 2022-23 season: an unbeatable team in the League, which leads by an abysmal difference compared to all (12 points to the immediate rival), that became weak in all other competitions, four disputed (Champions, Cup, Super Cup and Europa League, in that order) and three finished prematurely and in a bad way.
The numbers are revealing of the mutation that occurs from league Sundays to qualifying Wednesdays. It approaches the psychological transformation that Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, why the goalkeeper and the defenders of Barça are the same in all competitions. Those who do not concede a meter to their rival in the League are lost in the open field in the Cup. As they have painfully verified in the classic double.
Barça, who finished off Madrid 17 times (7 well) and conceded 11 times (3 between the sticks) in the League, dropped to 11 and 5 in the Cup and suffered 9 white shots (7 between the three sticks). An involution in two and a half weeks. The abysmal change that goes from sentencing the League to falling resoundingly in the semifinal.
Xavi Hernández’s team only has the League left to focus their efforts on. there where Marc André ter Stegen he is a giant protected by gladiators. The tournament in which the goals conceded are counted on the fingers of the hand: 9 in 27 days, which yields an average of 0.33 goals per game.
In other competitions, they have conceded 26 goals in 15 games: the average is 1.73.
This Monday against Girona, the German goalkeeper will play match number 28, the minimum to qualify for the Zamora Trophy. That record, never seen before, will enthrone him as the best goalkeeper in the history of the League when 92 editions will be completed. He needs to play a minimum of 60 minutes. If he stopped playing from then on, he would break the record for the best average (0.47 goals per game) shared by Liaño (Deportivo, 1993-94) and Oblak (Atlético, 2015-16).
This Monday against Girona he can secure the Zamora trophy with the best mark of all time.
an unusual multiplication
The astonishing average of 0.33 goals multiplies unusually during the week in the cups. The four from Madrid corroborate the black hole. Ter Stegen (in three games, Iñaki Peña) has conceded 26 goals in 15 games in the other competitions, it yields a shocking ratio of 1.73 goals per game. Discounted the appearances of the substitute, Ter Stegen has received 1,75 (21 in 12 games).
The relays that are operated on the line that escorts Ter Stegen do not explain the metamorphosis on their own, even though Barça missed the absences of Christensen and De Jong from one day to the next. It was not the exact moment of the appointment with Madrid, three in a month, which began, however, with the 0-1 draw at the Bernabéu and not one white shot on goal in 12 attempts.
Despite the shortcomings of a right-back and a left-footed central defender, the focus of the signings is on the attack.
quality difference
Perhaps it has more to do with the quality of the rivals in the competitions. Barça have lost two of the five games against Madrid and lost both against Bayern Munich (0-3). They did not win any of the matches against Inter Milan – all three teams are in the Champions League quarterfinals – nor both against Manchester United (in the Europa League quarterfinals).
The focus of the coaching staff, assuming the absence of a stable right-back and the willingness to sign a left-footed central defender, is directed towards attack. Thanks to Ter Stegen and the 20 zeros in 27 days of the League (3 zeros in the other 15 games), 53 goals were enough for Barça to add 71 points. The team needs many more. Just for the other competitions, it seems…
