FC Barcelona’s stingy defense have made history.
FC Barcelona’s stingy defense in the ongoing 2022/2023 La Liga season has made history.
The Blaugrana went home with another clean sheet on Sunday evening after a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano reaffirmed their status as Spanish top flight leaders.
Ousmane Dembele’s 22nd-minute goal separated the two teams in the capital, but the role that Barca’s defense played was just as important in the triumph and maintained high standards.
As pointed out by Mundo Deportivo on Monday, the mere six goals that Barca have conceded thus far this term is the lowest figure in club history and equals that of the 1986-1987 campaign 36 years ago.
Recapturing top form after a few rocky seasons, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has kept 12 clean sheets in total with only Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Espanyol managing to beat him.
When Barca’s cross city rivals Espanyol knocked a penalty past the German in a 1-1 derby draw on New Year’s Eve, the goal was the first that Barca had let in at their Nou Camp stadium this season. Through his feats, Ter Stegen could be set to match or surpass the 22 clean sheets that Claudio Bravo did in 2014-2015 where Barca won the treble under Luis Enrique.
It has been noted that the 41 points that Barca currently boast at this point of the season led to title wins in 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 on Pep Guardiola’s watch as well as in 2012-2013 when his successor in the late Tito Vilanova was in charge.
Yet if Barca, who have scored 35 goals at the other end, do go all the way under Xavi Hernandez and deliver their first domestic title in four years, it will be as much for the heroics of Ter Stegen and his backline as the attacking prowess of the likes of Robert Lewandowski.
With Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen forming a formidable center back partnership, they are flanked by World Cup finalist Jules Kounde and either Alejandro Balde or Jordi Alba on the other wing who between them all are doing a sterling job on domestic soil.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2023/01/09/revealed-how-fc-barcelonas-stingy-defense-has-broken-records-and-made-history/