The lack of control of Barça against Villarreal, in figures

Recognized it Xavi Hernandez after winning (1-3) in Villarreal and he signed it up for the list of duties in this clean week without a game until Saturday against him Betis. The Barça he did not maintain control of the game after a very good start that only lasted 20 minutes. Already in that section he lost a ball Eric Garcia inexcusably it almost cost a goal. The one from Martorell, right back for the first time, accumulated 13 losses and was the only Barça defender dribbled (2). Erratic was also Jordi Alba with 17 turnovers, while Abde Ezzalzouli, who risked more than anyone as a right winger, finished with 15. Sunrise made up for it with eight recoveries (the one most matched with Busquets and with one more than Pique and Araujo) and Abde he even stole three balls but Eric He was the only culé that did not steal any after his last good performances as a central defender.

The Barça lost 123 balls, only three less than the ‘yellow submarine’ but the feeling of inability to respond to the local push was evident, especially in the second half. The Villarreal He ended up finishing more than the Catalans: 14 to 12 in total. The locals distributed them in seven in each half while the visitors added four in the first and eight in the second, releasing at the end with the two goals of Memphis Depay and the penalty of Coutinho, which even a Chilean tried.

The lack of success of the set of Unai emery He condemned him by only finishing between clubs twice (one per part) and eight out. Four more were rejected by Barcelona’s rear. Ter Stegen breathed before the lack of aim ‘grogueta’ but was formidable in the first half against Danjuma to avoid the 1-0. It was his only stop in the entire crash.

The Barça did not find your site and another proof of this is that there was no fluency to connect with Ousmane Dembélé. He played 24 minutes, the same as against him Benfica but from receiving 27 balls on Tuesday, he went to only six in Villarreal. Frenkie de Jong he sent the ball twice for one of Nico, Eric Garcia, Araujo and Busquets.

And in a team that lost possession (50.6% in total from Villarreal and 53.4% ​​in the second half) and gave fewer passes than its rival (412-408), the number of media interventions dropped a lot with respect to to the European clash on Tuesday: Busquets went from 111 to 51, Frenkie de Jong from 86 to 30, Nico Gonzalez from 83 to 43 and Gavi from 62 to 38. And in Barça’s total, the 861 touches against him Benfica dropped to 573 before Villarreal.

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