What’s behind Barcelona’s defensive turnaround?

You can’t underestimate the importance of reliable defense.

Barcelona traditionally is a team who considers possession a defensive tactic. After all, if your opponent doesn’t have the ball, they can’t score.

But more and more in world football, we have seen teams do more with less. The tiki taka era is over, and the game has evolved. Even Manchester City, who continues to be the poster child for possession-based football, adapts from the season to season defensively to stay one step ahead of the competition.

A year ago, Xavi led Barcelona to a La Liga title in a season full of 1-0 victories.

The reasoning seemed simple. In the summer transfer window, they prioritized bringing in some of the best defenders on the market, with Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen making an impact right away.

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They weren’t able to find a solution at right full-back, but it didn’t matter. As so many other teams are apt to do these days, Xavi asked his center-backs to fill in. In the biggest games, Ronald Araujo was the man for the job when shutting down a world-class winger was the mission.

Finally, Alejandro Balde broke through, and locked down the job on the left side. For as good as he was at getting forward, the more underrated part of his game was how difficult he was to get past.

The formula seemed so simple.

Going into this season, it seemed logical that all Barcelona had to do was continue on with this backline, and success would be inevitable. They even brought in Inigo Martinez as a depth piece. What could go wrong?

For my money, Barcelona, and especially the defense, took a critical turn for the worse after the injury to Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

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That’s not to say they were impenetrable when the German was in goal at the beginning of the season, but there’s a confidence to the team when their fearless leader is between the sticks.

Iñaki Peña is a well0developed professional goalkeeper, capable of making a big save for sure, but he also looks very nervy and capable of making an error at any time. Furthermore, when the young Spaniard was in goal, the players around him seemed to make more mistakes as well, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Confidence begets confidence.

Beyond the skill and experience, Ter Stegen has a presence. He keeps his teammates alert, and is quick to hold his team accountable when standards start to slip.

Ultimately, credit should also be given to Xavi for having the courage to experiment with Andreas Christensen as a defensive midfielder.

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At first, it was hard to see the value that he was contributing in the position. He is certainly no Sergio Busquets. Instead, the Danish international keeps things tidy and simple, and focuses on patrolling the area in front of the defensive line. Having an enforcer in the position can be very beneficial, as it was back in the days of the lion Javier Mascherano.

And now, even with Christensen out injured, the defensive form has continued.

In no small part to the next great Barcelona defender in the making Pau Cubarsí, who took advantage of the opportunity in front of him and never looked back.

Credit also has to be given to the front line who is defending with more energy and desire. Being able to effectively press high up the field goes hand in hand with possession-based football. Benching Joao Felix has helped in this regard. Players like Raphinha have always had it in them. Lamine Yamal continues to get better on the defensive side of the ball. And now Felix knows, if he wants to play, he has to join in too.

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So in the end, it’s not one thing you can point to, to explain why the defense regressed, and what caused them to get so much better so quickly.

But the uptick in form couldn’t have come at a better time.

PSG beckons, and after that will be a visit to the Santiago Bernabeu.

There’s a realistic path to the Champions League final. Let that sink in. In order to get there, the defense will have to continue to carry the day.

If their form continues domestically, and they manage to beat Real Madrid, there definitely is Liga as well.

Bravo Barcelona.

The defensive guardians are back. And they’ve made this season a lot more interesting.