Barca fans fear bleak winter

On Saturday evening, at the Camp Nou, Barcelona’s big name strike-force started their second game together, as Luis Suarez made his competitive home debut alongside fellow South American superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Barca lost again, after the previous weekend’s 3-1 ‘El Clasico’ defeat at Madrid with a 0-1 home reverse to Celta Vigo, the game decided by Joaquin Larrivey’s strike in the 55th minute.

There was a certain amount of good fortune involved in the Galicians’ victory. Barca hit the woodwork four times — twice through Messi and twice through Neymar. Visiting keeper Sergio also made some outstanding saves, from Suarez especially.

But the game highlighted issues elsewhere in the team. Coach Luis Enrique fielded Ivan Rakitic and youngster Rafinha as his midfield playmakers, benching Xavi, even with Andres Iniesta injured. Neither Rakitic nor Rafinha influenced a game in which both sides often bypassed central areas and got the ball forward quickly.

This is not something blaugrana fans are used to seeing. Even local pundits who welcomed (in theory) the idea of Luis Enrique bringing a more direct ‘vertical’ approach this season are not impressed with what is unfolding.

“You can see the hurry in their play, very vertical and not elaborate at all, with nobody taking time over their passes,” wrote Ramon Besa in El Pais on Sunday.

“The forwards, not the midfielders, are now the main protagonists. This was a worrying circumstance against an opponent as organised, intense and dynamic as Celta.”

The game finished with a disorganised-looking Barca chasing an equaliser with a three-man back line of Dani Alves, Jordi Alba and Jeremy Mathieu — none of whom are natural defenders. Xavi made little impact after entering as a substitute. Celta had chances for 2-0, and in the end, deserved their victory.

When Luis Enrique was rotating his starting line-up through earlier games, and Barca were beating lesser opponents, it seemed like clever squad management. Now the regular changes in personnel and tactics look like the actions of someone struggling for a solution.

Pushed to explain what was going wrong, Enrique went on the defensive at his post-match news conference.

“It would be very easy at this moment to sacrifice ourselves and say everything is going wrong,” he said. “But that’s not my way. I have faith in what we’re doing and the players we have.

“I’d take having so many chances in any game. We had 19 shots, hit the woodwork four times. Sometimes the ball just won’t go in.”

Such chaos on the pitch came after a week which brought further twists in the seemingly never-ending off-field infighting at the Catalan club. The board continued their unprecedented push to force previous president Joan Laporta and other ex-directors to personally repay a €23.2m deficit from their time in charge. Laporta meanwhile said the courts were on his side, and he hopes to be elected back to the helm in 2016.

“Barca have more resources in the courts than on the pitch,” wrote Santi Jimenez in Sunday’s AS. ”Every quarter of an hour they play a different style, they’ve spent an unwritten amount on signings who remain unused 10 games in, and from which can be glimpsed a worrying lack of leadership. The team resembles more and more the club. You can see a harsh winter coming at the Camp Nou.”

The ever-deepening frowns at Barca contrast with ever-widening smiles at Real Madrid, who on Saturday won an 11th consecutive game while sailing past Granada 4-0.

Madrid are the new leaders, two points ahead of Barca, with champions Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia also close in an unusually crowded top of the league.

Even if his superstar strikeforce does not have more luck next time out, Luis Enrique needs to quickly get his team playing better. Otherwise the winter really will be a harsh one at the Camp Nou.