FC Barcelona were astonishing in defence last season, but the clean sheets weren’t coming quite so thick and fast in 2023-24. But that has now changed, and Marc-André ter Stegen has not been beaten once in the last four outings for the team in La Liga. That’s five clean sheets in six games since his comeback against Granada, and the German is very much to thank for such amazing feats as his double-save against Pablo Barrios in the 3-0 win at Atlético at the weekend.
Jules Kounde has also played his part. Xavi himself has said that “I feel comforted by knowing that Jules is on the field”, and the Frenchman has certainly regained the kind of form that at certain moments earlier this season was eluding him. He recovered five balls against Atlético on Sunday and his four dribble attempts led the team along with Raphinha.
His central defensive team-mate Ronald Araujo also seems to have recovered the kind of form we had grown so used to, while Andreas Christensen has been a huge success his new position slightly further up the field, where he has provided excellent cover for the injured Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.
Cubarsí the key
But perhaps the defender who is getting spoken about the most has been young Pau Cubarsí. The 17-year-old MVP of the win against Napoli has excelled time and time again. If this continues, and there are no signs that it won’t, we could be talking about one of the biggest blaugrana names of the next decade or more.
João Cancelo and Hector Fort are two other names worthy of mention for the way they have ensured that the absence of Balde has rarely been felt. The Portuguese full back has brought his skill and experience to the role, while Fort has everything in him to make the left flank of the blaugrana defence his own.
To think that not so long ago pundits were asking serious questions of the Barça defence. For the umpteenth time, the cynics have been proved wrong. The Barça defence is in extremely good hands (and feet) right now…
