Barcelona on a record hunt. The leader of La Liga achieved the 23rd clean sheet of this season against Atlético on Sunday. According to Spanish media, it is very important for Xavi to have Frenkie de Jong and Pedri back.
9 goals in 30 games
Play thirty games and keep a clean sheet 23 times. These are incredible figures that Barcelona can present this season. “The team is reaching unprecedented records,” Mundo Deportivo saw. “And one of the keys to this Barcelona is the defensive solidity, with Marc-André ter Stegen as the central figure.” Barcelona is the first team in history to collect fewer than ten (now nine) goals from the seven major European competitions in their first thirty games.
Marca therefore wonders whether this defense is the best defense of all time. In terms of the number of goals conceded, Chelsea had their best ever defense under Jose Mourinho in 2004/05 with only 15 goals conceded. It then had legends like Petr Cech, John Terry, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho. They commented, “Barcelona’s defense can now be engraved in the history of this sport.”
With the win over Atlético Madrid, Barcelona recovered after a series of three games without a win. Diario AS writes that this is not least due to the return of Frenkie de Jong and Pedri. “They immediately put their football on. De Jong was the most dominant attack leader, just like Pedri when he came within the lines,” they wrote.
SPORT reinforced that view. They wrote, “ Barcelona needed natural midfielders like water to quench their thirst. And there was the Dutchman again. He always helps to make the team play football recognizable. De jong is one of the players who never plays badly. He took the helm at Barcelona, ensuring pace in the game, continuity, balance, mobility, control, order and many accurate passes. It’s good to have you back.”
De Jong happy to return
De Jong spoke to Ziggo Sport’s camera after the 1-0 victory against Atletico. “I’m a bit tired, but it’s going well,” said the smiling Orange international, who had started the game and had been replaced fifteen minutes before the end. De Jong’s return was a welcome boost for Barcelona, which had spilled points against Girona and Getafe (twice 0-0) in the previous two rounds. Just before that, Real Madrid lost 0-4 in the return in the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup tournament.
De Jong had seen it all happen from the side and also noticed that the pressure had increased towards the top match against Atlético. “It was important to win today. Atlético were undefeated for a long time, they were in good shape. I am very happy that we won,” said De Jong, who agreed that it was logical that Barça had not reached its top level in recent weeks due to personnel problems. In addition to De Jong, Xavi also had to miss Ousmane Dembélé, Andreas Christensen and Pedri. ‘Each team will be less if four basic players drop out’, was the dry reaction of De Jong, whose happiness could be read on his face after his successful comeback.
