Ernesto Valverde Says 'There's Always Fuss' at Barcelona over Form

Ernesto Valverde has bemoaned the fact that Barcelona are expected to give a "footballing lesson" every time they play.

The Blaugrana are top of La Liga after 13 matches of 2019-20 and can qualify out of Group F in the UEFA Champions League with a game to spare when they play Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday at the Camp Nou:

Barca's recent performances, though, have not been overly impressive.

On Saturday, they scraped to a 2-1 win over bottom-of-the-table Leganes thanks to second-half goals from Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal:

For Barca manager Valverde, the high expectations placed on the club means there will always be critics no matter how the side are playing, per Javier Giraldo of Sport:

"Here, at Barca, there's always fuss. We're at the club we're at, it will always be like this, if not for one reason then for another. Now we come off the back of winning a game in which we suffered a lot, they pushed us but we won. What happens is that here they demand a footballing lesson in each game and sometimes we can't give it.

"We come from playing at Leganes, we come from winning. There's always criticism when we play at Leganes because it's not easy to play there. That's what it's about, not only putting ourself on the precipice when things don't go well. We're first in La Liga and in the Champions League and we want to stay first."

If Barca lose to Dortmund on Wednesday, they could go to Inter Milan for their final group-stage match needing a result in order to qualify for the knockout rounds.

There is also a possibility the defending champions could find themselves fourth in La Liga by Sunday evening if they lose to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Atleti have endured some frustrating results recently, drawing seven of their last 10 matches in the Spanish top flight.

They have a decent recent record against Barca, though, drawing twice and winning once in their last five home meetings with the Catalan giants. 

Fortunately for Valverde, he still has Lionel Messi in his squad.

The Argentinian missed the opening of 2019-20 due to a foot injury, but since he returned he has registered eight goals and five assists in eight league appearances.