Barcelona Clean Sheet Record Disguises Issues Ahead of Champions League, Clasico

Luis Enrique enters the biggest week of his career as a coach, with Barcelona preparing to face Ajax in the Champions League and then Real Madrid at the weekend, but his defence is creakier than it looks.

Normally, the midweek match wouldn't be so important, but having lost away against Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona need to get their European campaign back on track.

Then, on Saturday, they face what is, on paper, their toughest game of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu against their arch-rivals.

On paper, Barcelona look fantastic at the back, having kept eight clean sheets in eight games this season in La Liga.

Claudio Bravo has been breaking records and is only a couple of games away from smashing Barcelona's all-time shutout mark. Victor Valdes is a club legend, but Bravo has now exceeded the time in La Liga that the former Barcelona star kept opponents at bay, per Sport.

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Bravo has now gone 720 minutes unbeaten in La Liga, while Valdes' record was 686. This may give the defence a false sense of security. It would be a terrible thing for Barcelona if they went into the clash against Real Madrid thinking that they were impervious at the back.

The game against PSG should show the team that they still have a lot of work to do defensively, because they were taken apart by the French side.

Even at the weekend against Basque Country minnows Eibar, the cracks in the back line were visible. The two best chances of the first half fell to Capa and Saul Berjon, respectively. Capa rounded Bravo but somehow hit the side netting with the goal gaping. Then, Berjon crept in behind a sleeping defence, but Bravo produced an excellent save to deny him.

Now, it's certainly not to say that Barcelona never conceded chances to teams on the break before Enrique's reign.

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Valdes, in fact, was noted for his excellent concentration and ability to produce one key intervention after a long time twiddling his thumbs. And, furthermore, there is no doubt that Enrique has had a positive effect on Barcelona's defence, which is significantly improved from last season.

Jeremy Mathieu looks far more comfortable in a Blaugrana shirt than most anticipated, while Gerard Pique and Marc Bartra will have to compete with Thomas Vermaelen for the other centre-back spot.

One flaw is that Enrique persists in using Javier Mascherano in defence. The Argentinian has, for the most part, played well this season; however, that's been helped by the fact that Barcelona haven't faced any truly difficult sides, with the exception of PSG.

And in that match, Mascherano was at fault for the first goal as his pathetic defensive stance allowed David Luiz to control the ball in the box and then roll it home.

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Enrique used Mascherano in midfield against Eibar, and he patrolled it well, just as he did for his country at the World Cup. It implies that the coach knows that keeping him in defence against Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and the rest might not be a good idea.

Enrique said after the Eibar game, per Sport: "Masche helps us in all the positions. I've always seen him more as a defender, but in the role today he has been very good. It's a great option for the future. He's excellent defensively and can carry the ball into attack."

We could see Enrique use a double pivot for the first time, with Mascherano alongside Sergio Busquets in midfield.

That would allow Barcelona an extra physical presence and height at the back against Real Madrid, with another possibility being to put Mathieu at left-back and incorporating both Bartra and Pique. This may be the best way to stem Real Madrid's potent attacking threat.

It's clear that if Barcelona continue to defend exactly the same way they have been doing, without making any special adjustments for the Madrid game, then Bravo's clean sheet streak will come to an end.