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Barcelona need to shape up defensively against Atletico Madrid

By Ernesto Hernandez

Barcelona's Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic (L) and Barcelona's Spanish defender Gerard Pique react to Real Betis' second goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on November 11, 2018. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic (L) and Barcelona's Spanish defender Gerard Pique react to Real Betis' second goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on November 11, 2018. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona faces a crucial game against Atletico Madrid and needs to play better defensively if they want to remain atop the league table.

With the international break over, club football makes a welcomed return as Barcelona travel to the Wanda Metropolitano to face Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona currently sits atop the standings in La Liga but only a point separates them and the aforementioned Atletico Madrid. If Barcelona wants to remain first place, they will need to vastly improve from their defensively display shown against Real Betis.

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Against Real Betis, the Blaugrana were torn apart by time and time again. Whether it was on the counter or a simple direct attack, Betis found the gaps between the Barcelona defence and midfield. To make matter worse, Ivan Rakitic was shown a red and will not be available against Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona’s defence has conceded 18 goals in 12 games so far this season. The club ranks 14th in the league which is a far cry from where the club was last season. Compare that with Atletico Madrid who ranks first in that category having only conceded eight goals. While Barcelona is a better offensive team, that wasn’t enough against Betis and Atletico are not an easy team to score on.

Without Rakitic and Coutinho, who is coming back from an injury, Barcelona could line up in a 4-4-2. It would allow Valverde to play Messi and Suarez up top and have an extra man in midfield. Arturo Vidal is the likely candidate to take over for Rakitic and either Rafinha or Sergi Roberto would take up the other spot.

Speaking of Sergi Roberto, the other change Valverde should consider making is moving Sergi Roberto out from the right-back position. The player has struggled in the last month defensively with his errors directly contributing to goals.

Nelson Semedo was performing well and really coming into his own during Roberto’s absence and it was surprising that he was relegated to the bench once Roberto came back from injury.

By playing Semedo in his natural position, it allows Roberto to partner with Sergio Busquets in the centre of midfield and frees up Arturo Vidal to attack the right. It would also not put so much of the defensive burden on Busquets who isn’t as agile as he once used to be.

The other question mark is whether Valverde continues with the pairing of Pique-Lenglet or if he replaces the latter with Samuel Umtiti. Umtiti has been out for nearly two months because of injury. He was on the bench in their last game but did not get any playing time. Because it’s a tough opponent in Atletico Madrid, the manager may stick with Lenglet if he feels Umtiti is still too rusty after the lengthy absence.

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Barcelona will need to step up and improve dramatically if they want to beat the Colchoneros. The whole team performed poorly against Betis with the team looking disjointed when it came to defending. Luckily for Ernesto Valverde, he does the options to tinker around a bit and solidify his defense and he’ll need to because if Atletico score first, it’s going to be a long game for Barcelona.

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