Barcelona are paying the price for a problem they should have anticipated in the summer

Barcelona are paying the price for a problem they should have anticipated in the summer Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid has once again raised questions about the club’s defensive planning. While Hansi Flick’s side still possess plenty of quality, the lack of depth at centre-back is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The concern is not simply that Barcelona have defensive weaknesses. Every team does, in one department or another. The bigger issue is that the club entered the season knowing its options had been reduced, yet failed to bring in a replacement. With Ronald Araujo and Alvaro Cortes leaving during the summer, Barcelona lost two centre-backs without signing anyone to fill the gaps they left behind. For a team competing for La Liga and the Champions League, that was always a considerable risk, and they are facing the full brunt of it now. Barcelona had opportunities to strengthen What makes it worse is that there was no shortage of potential options in the summer market to reinforce the central defence. Alessandro Bastoni was one of the more expensive possibilities at around €70 million, while Castello Lukeba was valued at approximately €60 million. Other names included Luka Vuskovic at €54 million, Nico Schlotterbeck at €50 million and Goncalo Inacio at €45 million. Cristian Romero was also mentioned as a potentially more affordable option, with a price range of €30 million to €40 million. While these were the players’ valuations and not the actual asking prices, Barça should have at least made an attempt to sign one of these names. They had an entire transfer window to assess their defensive needs and identify a solution, but instead weakened an already problematic position. The warning signs were already there Barcelona’s defensive approach under Flick places considerable responsibility on the centre-backs. Playing with a high defensive line requires speed, concentration, positional awareness and the ability to defend large spaces. It is a demanding system even when everyone is fit and performing well. When injuries, suspensions or poor form enter the picture, a shortage of specialist defenders can quickly become a serious problem. Pau Cubarsi has already taken on enormous responsibility at a young age, while Gerard Martin has provided an important option in the back line. However, relying on the same players repeatedly, especially across several competitions, leaves little room for rotation or unexpected setbacks. That is exactly the situation Barça find themselves in now. With Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia all injured, Flick has no other options to call upon. Everyone except the club seemed to realise that they had a gaping hole in defence, and that is not a good place to be. Deco deserves scrutiny for the decision Barcelona have suffered a lot defensively. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) Deco has earned praise for several aspects of Barcelona’s squad-building work, and that recognition should not disappear because of one questionable decision. However, good sporting management also means anticipating problems before they become obvious, and Deco should have seen this coming from miles away. The sporting director and the club’s recruitment department had to weigh the cost of signing another defender against the risk of entering a long season without sufficient cover. The defeat against Madrid cannot be blamed entirely on that decision. Football matches are shaped by tactics, individual performances and numerous other factors. Still, the results against PSG and Real Madrid shone a spotlight on a vulnerability that has been threatening to surface for a while now. Barcelona cannot expect Flick to maintain the same defensive intensity throughout the season without giving him enough reliable options. There is also a difference between trusting young players and placing excessive responsibility on them in unfair circumstances. Barcelona’s academy remains one of the club’s greatest strengths, but youth development should be complemented by recruitment in the market. The frustration for Barcelona supporters is that this was not an unforeseeable crisis. The risk was visible in the summer, and the club had time to address it. If anything has come out of these two disappointing games, it is that Barça simply cannot go on like this, and the onus is now on Deco to address the situation in the January transfer window.