The brutal defeat this Saturday at the Olympique Luis Company against Atlético de Madrid (1-2) has put Barça in a deep crisis of results in the league. One of the worst streaks experienced in recent years: the immediate precedent must be sought 16 years ago, in 2008, the last days of the Frank Rijkaard era on the bench.
Bad omen. Then, Barça, also headed by Joan Laporta in those days, had a sad end to the season: they finished 19 points behind the champions, Real Madrid, and even 10 points ahead of Villarreal.
destructive streak
Barça have added only 5 of the last 21 possible points
With the defeat against Atlético de Madrid, the fifth in the league and the second in a row at the Olympique Luis Company, Barça has accumulated seven games with only one win in the Spanish championship: 0–4 at the Bernabéu (26 October) and Next 3–1 against Espanyol (3 November), the Hansi Flick-led team has added only wins (1–5) at home to Mallorca, in addition to two draws (2–2) in Vigo and 2–2 at Villamarin) and four defeats, three of them at home (Real Sociedad, 1–0; Las Palmas, 1–2; Leganes, 0–1, and Atlético). That is, 5 out of the last 21 marks are possible.
To find a similar example we have to go back to March 2008 with Rijkaard. The defeat (4–2) at home to Atlético de Madrid began a series of nine painful matches consisting of four defeats, four draws and only one win (6–0 against Valencia). So, that win was only a piece, as the Blaugrana team made it a series of eight games with a single win.
Rijkaard will be fired in a few weeks. The club, through Tixiki Begiristen, informed him a few hours before the May Classic that he would not remain on the bench. He had already prepared to be Pep Guardiola’s replacement at Barça B.
