Raphinha fell to the Mestalla ground, covering his face with his shirt when the referee blew the final whistle. Barcelona's road game against Valencia on Saturday ended in a 1-1 draw, despite their best efforts and numerous opportunities; it is two more points lost for the La Liga champions.
Among the players with the greatest involvement was Raphinha, who helped Joao Felix.
He had made every effort until the very end, pressing without the ball and setting up his team for victory, but there could not be a joyful conclusion due to a lack of accuracy and quality at crucial moments. Furthermore, he knew it.
Robert Lewandowski was standing a few meters away, his hands resting on his hips as he faced the Brazilian.
"Yet another day without a goal," he probably thought.
After a short while, Lewandowski made his way to the corner to thank the supporters who had made the roughly 350 km (200 miles) trip to Valencia before making his way through the tunnel to the dressing room.
Barca head coach Xavi said in his press conference after the match. “We must be one of the worst teams in Europe in terms of effectiveness, it happened to us in Mallorca, in Granada (both 2-2 draws)…. against Atletico (Madrid; a 1-0 win), we could have beaten them well and they almost drew with us. Against Girona, we could have won 2-1 or drawn 3-3 (but lost, 4-2). We are not very effective.”
He's got a point. Opta reports that Barcelona is the team in the top five leagues in Europe that has wasted the most significant opportunities this season, in both first halves (23) and complete league games (41).
Barcelona had numerous opportunities on Saturday but managed just one goal against a struggling team that hasn't won a league match since the beginning of November and is constantly in turmoil due to their owner and president, Peter Lim.
They coordinated more well from midfield and produced a lot more chances than in previous games, but it was insufficient. With eight shots on goal, four off target, and four blocked, Xavi's team had sixteen opportunities. They missed four of their five excellent opportunities. Other than their aim, Valencia possessed none. In summary, Barca had an xG of 3.24 compared to 0.54 for Valencia.
It continues the pattern of beating rivals on predicted goals (xG) but not in the end result:
Girona (4-2 Loss): 2.94 xG vs. 4.25
Real Madrid: 1.32 vs 0.96 xG (lost 2-1)
Granada: 3.00 v 0.61 xG (drawn 2-2).
And their center-forward was one of the players that stood out.
Lewandowski failed to score in another game. He had three attempts on target, two off target, and a blocked shot in the midweek Champions League match against Royal Antwerp. This is not the first time this season that he has failed to score on either end.
Lewandowski has frequently expressed his dissatisfaction with his teammates' lack of efforts to find him and his inability to take the initiative when opportunities aren't presented to him. This time, the group was able to locate him. Despite his gratitude for the effort, he was not successful.
Signed to guide the team through a moment of transition in the post-Messi era, Lewandowski emerged as the main star last summer. Additionally, despite his strong beginnings, he has not been the necessary leader.
One of the main reasons Barcelona won La Liga the previous season was due in large part to the Pole and the defense. He appeared to have played for them all along. By the time the sides headed into the World Cup break, Lewandowski had tallied eighteen goals overall and thirteen in La Liga.
Despite finishing the season with 33 goals in all competitions and being the leading scorer in La Liga with 23, he has not been the same since returning from Qatar in 2022.
The now 35-year-old has only scored eight goals in La Liga this season, and both his effectiveness and spark in front of goal have drastically decreased. Until his brace against Deportivo Alaves, he had failed to score in six consecutive games.
Following his departure from Bayern Munich, Lewandowski was known for his ability to positively communicate with players on the field, particularly with younger ones. He now communicates with a persistent attitude of rage or whining when the ball is not handed to him instead of the previous way. A mockery directed towards Lamine Yamal, a young artist who is less than half his age, went viral.
Lewandowski has also not aided the team's pressing in recent games due to his extremely inconsistent ball handling. As a result, Barca are struggling.
The team feels uneasy because of all of this. And it's a major factor in why Barca plans to sign Vitor Roque, a striker from Brazil, during the winter transfer window.
When a squad member is out for four months or more due to injury, La Liga regulations provide any team the option to sign a replacement. They are permitted to spend eighty percent of the player's value, in this example, Gavi for Barcelona.
The fact that they are signing a striker with the available slot indicates how serious their goalscoring issue has grown, especially considering the hole Gavi leaves in their midfield.
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