Barcelona's Goalscoring Troubles Against Granada Should Not Worry Catalan Giants
CAMP NOU, Barcelona — This was not a good performance. Or a bad one. Just a decent one, which was settled by a spectacular goal from Rafinha.
Barcelona beat Granada 1-0 on Saturday night, and it was difficult to know what to make of the game. The hosts couldn’t be criticised because they dominated the game, stopped the Andalusians from getting anywhere close to scoring and took all three points home.
Then again, it was a frustrating display where individual mistakes—particularly when it came to finishing—stopped Barcelona from getting the sort of result fans are accustomed to racking up against lowly visitors.
Granada played 5-4-1 and sat deep, welcoming Barcelona on but defending resolutely, although had Luis Suarez been wearing his golden boot instead of presenting it to the fans before the game, this would have been the rout it could have been.
But not should have been, because Barcelona only created a few clear chances, instead of the mountain they usually manage.
The best opportunity of the first half was wasted by Suarez, who was sent through on goal by a fine Javier Mascherano pass but inexplicably dilly-dallied instead of pulling the trigger and was caught by the defence.
Luis Enrique sent the team out charged up for the second half, and within three minutes Barcelona were ahead.
Suarez fluffed his lines again, when Lionel Messi fed him, but Rafinha nudged the ball on to Neymar, who hit the post. When the rebound flew into the air, Rafinha was there again to acrobatically power it home.
One moment of quality from the midfielder, and that was enough to win the game. Suarez, again, and Messi missed chances towards the end that could have made the game safe, but in the end it did not matter.
“It wasn’t a brilliant game on our part, but it falls within the normal range,” said Luis Enrique afterwards. “These type of games need freshness and finesse, we lacked those at times.”
That was in part the coach’s fault for allowing several squad members four days off, although he shouldn’t be blamed for that because an extra rest could pay huge dividends later in the season—or even as soon as Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Manchester City.
Messi went to Disneyland with his family, while Sergi Roberto enjoyed London from Camden market to Harrods, as the players were able to enjoy some breathing space after a hectic schedule, which now picks up again.
The latter had a superb game against Granada and was given the man of the match award by Sport, with Javier Miguel giving him eight out of 10 and writing: “Great game from the cantera player at all levels, very sensible and accurate crossing going forward.”
He spoke after the game to Spanish TV station Movistar and rejected the idea that Barcelona had not played well.
Roberto said, h/t Sport: “Granada had all their players in their area and so it was very difficult.
“We dominated the game and despite not scoring a lot of goals we had clear chances and they had none. If we had scored a goal in the first half quickly then it would all have been much more open.”
He is right in that Granada played in a way that few clubs have tried recently at Camp Nou. Recently it seems the best way to try to hurt Barcelona is to press them high up the pitch, which is generally how teams who have come away with points from this stadium have achieved it since Luis Enrique took over.
However, Granada’s attitude was a throwback to what visiting teams would do while Pep Guardiola was on the bench here.
The reason it worked was because Barcelona’s master lock-picker, Andres Iniesta, is out injured.
When defences are as tight and compact as Granada’s, the Blaugrana need their captain to help cut through the lines, usually teaming up with Messi to unbalance the rearguard and probe weak spots.
Denis Suarez has quality, but asked to do the same job against Granada, he played it too safe and didn’t go for the jugular enough.
That means the only area of concern Barcelona will need to ponder is how to best cope with this strategy if it is used against them again while Iniesta is out.
One solution would be to use Messi in a more central role to do a similar job to the Spain international.
However, Luis Enrique denied Barcelona found it hard going because Iniesta was not here.
“Andres is a unique player, but this didn’t happen because of his absence,” he explained. “The opponent had an influence too, they defended well.”
It's true, few teams will come and defend with as few errors as Granada did, and fewer still will benefit from such poor finishing as Suarez displayed here.
There were plenty of positives for Barcelona to take from the game, not least Rafinha’s effectiveness in front of goal. He has scored five this season now, netting every time he has started with the exception of the club’s unsuccessful trip to Celta Vigo.
Rafinha is showing he is not just teacher’s pet and will play a real part this season, while Ivan Rakitic played nicely in the pivot position, which allowed Sergio Busquets to rest.
It wasn’t just Iniesta who was missing—it was three-quarters of Barcelona’s spine. Busquets was left on the bench, and Gerard Pique is still out because of injury.
Without those three core players, it was no surprise that things didn’t go perfectly for Barcelona.
“The players are not machines,” added Luis Enrique, using one of his very favourite phrases. “The stimuli appear when they have to appear, and today we lacked freshness.”
The coach is happy with the club’s position in La Liga—second, two points behind leaders Real Madrid—and the Champions League—top of group C.
"The situation in La Liga is that we are close but a bit behind the leader. There are the direct clashes to come, and we are going in the correct line in both competitions,” he explained, starting to think about the European clash with Guardiola’s City at the Etihad.
While the English side can observe this Barcelona display and appreciate that without Pique and Iniesta the team are significantly weaker, the Catalans will be more motivated on Tuesday. These players always step it up for the big games. And there are plenty of those coming up.
Tricky away La Liga clashes against Sevilla and Real Sociedad sandwich Malaga at home, before Barcelona welcome Real Madrid to Camp Nou.
By then they will hope to have all their important stars back. And while the weeks ahead won’t be easy, failing to hit Granada for six shouldn’t be a worry, considering the amount of control they showed. The goals will come.
Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.
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