AS: Inigo s departure has caused the collapse of Barcelona s defense system, which is in urgent need of reconstruction

On October 28, "AS" reported that after Inigo Martinez left, Barcelona's defense system collapsed and needs to be rebuilt.

The game against Real Madrid once again exposed the problems with Barcelona's defense this season. This defense is much more fragile and unreliable than last season. Flick and his coaching staff are fully aware of the situation but have so far been unable to find a solution.

The problem is not just with the four defenders. With Barcelona adopting such a risky system, the team's overall pressing is crucial to reducing the pressure on the defense. A bad high press will create a hole for the defenders, who often make mistakes in positioning and concentration. Mbappe's goal is a clear example of this, Bellingham was able to think calmly and deliver the pass, Kubasi was easily shaken off by the opponent, and Eric Garcia was too far away from him.

In this regard, Barcelona greatly miss Inigo Martinez, who until August was the leader of the defense under Flick. Without him, the defense is broken and needs to be rebuilt. After some experiments, Flick sought to consolidate the central defender pairing of Kubasi and Eric Garcia and give them continuous playing opportunities, but they are still not as solid as expected. They made some unforgivable mistakes and seemed too childish at times.

The full-backs Konde and Balde were not in their best condition. Konde's performance was completely different from before. There were some inattentive situations in the game that he rarely had in the past. On the left wing, Balde is still far from returning to his best level after returning from injury, and Conde also encountered some physical problems.

Without good pressing and insufficiently solid defense, Barcelona was left with only Juan Garcia as the last bastion of defense. He made up for many of his teammates' mistakes during the game, but his injuries took a toll on the team. Joan Garcia played 6 times and conceded 4 goals, averaging 0.7 goals per game. He made a total of 14 saves. Although Szczesny tried to protect Barcelona's goal at the Bernabeu Stadium, he conceded 2 goals per game.

This season, Barcelona has only kept clean sheets in three games and conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game. Opponents had a total of 90 shots on target, an average of 9 per game. For a team that once defended a solid defense, this number of shots on target was too many.