It has been a very frustrating few weeks for Barcelona, whose winless run extended to three matches on Saturday after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Valencia at the Mestalla. Head coach Xavi Hernandez cut a very frustrated figure when he spoke to the media post-match, where he claimed that his side are one of the least effective teams in Europe.
Barcelona missed several chances to defeat Valencia, but a combination of excellent goalkeeping from Giorgi Mamardashvili and poor finishing from the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ilkay Gundogan meant that the Catalans dropped two more points in the La Liga title race.
Xavi’s claim was an eye-opener was some people, but there is certainly evidence to suggest that what he said is right. Sport’s Ivan San Antonio reported after Saturday’s match that Barcelona have only scored 31% of their clear cut chances this season, which is a dire statistic.
🚨 Barcelona have only been able to turn 31% of their clear chances into a goal. @sanantheone pic.twitter.com/XtAcEfi9OZ
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 17, 2023
To put this in perspective, of the 15 teams averaging three or more big chances per match, Barcelona rank dead last in conversion rate of these opportunities, as La Pausa have pointed out.
There are 15 teams averaging 3+ big chances per game in Europe's big five leagues this season.
Barcelona rank 15th for conversion rate of those chances (31%), even below a Chelsea team who seem to be in a constant crisis of finishing (36%). https://t.co/6XSZU3Z9Om
— La Pausa (@lapausa_pod) December 17, 2023
The positive thing for Xavi is that his Barcelona side are creating these chances. However, their poor finishing ability means that they are already six points off top spot in La Liga, and this could be nine if Girona defeat Alaves on Monday. It’s safe to say that shooting practice will be top of the agenda during the winter break.
