More than four months have passed since Barcelona knee painfully in the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid. The azulgranas, who had emerged victorious from the exhibition Classic in Miami a few weeks earlier, were no match for a Madrid that, at that time, was scary. .
Much has changed since then in Can Barça. The Valverde team commands in the LaLiga standings, has signed a brilliant group stage in the Champions League and has not had a stir in the Copa del Rey. In the words of Txingurri himself, "the team is the same as in August, but the circumstances have changed." Here we will try to describe what the Barça coach is referring to. How has Barça changed in these four months?
The Post-Newmar Syndrome
No one is aware that the Barcelona of mid-August was in the midst of an earthquake of considerable scale. The Catalans have just seen how their most promising player, who was called to succeed Messi in charge of the team, was heading towards PSG following the call of the petrodollars. That lack of ability to retain talent plunged the Catalans into a notable depression. And besides, as is obvious, it meant the loss of one of its most decisive players.
Nobody passes through here.
Barça de Valverde is no longer that vulnerable team of a few months ago. He has built his winning formula from defensive solidity. It is very difficult to make a goal to the Catalan box and there are the numbers to corroborate it. Real Madrid did the culés five goals in the two games of Supercopa. After that, the club took 16 games to reach the same amount of goals received. Valverde has given importance to the defense that was not seen in Can Barça for years. With the quality of the above, it is quite likely that the goals will come, so it is vital to put the padlock behind. This security behind has been based on two pillars: the solitude of the central pair and the great moment of form of Marc-André Ter Stegen. The German is setting his best season since he came to Barcelona and it is no longer strange to see his name in the pools to choose the best keeper on the planet.
The increase of the stuck
Another important issue. Barca of the Spanish Super Cup lacked a goal. In 180 minutes he was only able to score a goal for Real Madrid and, what is more worrying, he only shot nine times between the three clubs between both games. It remains to be seen what will happen this Saturday, but there is data to believe that Barça has left behind that problem. He is the top scorer of LaLiga, with 42 goals in favor - Real Madrid takes 30 -, has Leo Messi in front of Pichichi and it seems that his killer, Luis Suarez, has recovered his nose in recent games. The Uruguayan is on his best scoring run of the season.