How Barça have thrown away La Liga against weaker opposition
Against Alavés, Málaga, Betis and Deportivo they have dropped 13 points
They also struggled to beat Granada, Leganes and Valencia this season
A lack of consistency is 'killing' Barcelona. And the worst thing is that this weakness always shows itself against opponents, always a priori, who are inferior.
It's painful for Barcelona fans as it leaves their team close to the abyss in La Liga. Big games, big performances against rivals of stature (Sevilla, Celta, Atletico Madrid...) and disappointing showing against team at the other end of the table (Alavés, Málaga, Betis, Deportivo...).
In fact -- and always understanding that logically slip-ups will happen throughout so many months of competition (isolated incidents) -- Luis Enrique's side have lost 13 points in an unexpected manner.
And not just that, but it's also been against side's fighting for relegation when Barça have offered their worst image. A narrow one-goal win against Granada at Camp Nou and via a last minute penalty against Leganes.
In this sense, Barça's ultimate 'bogey team' this season has been Malaga, who have taken five points off them and have not conceded a single goal.
On Saturday, the Blaugrana blew the chance to move back to the top of the league and to ensure they depended on themselves to win the league -- Real Madrid had drawn with Atletico at the Bernabeu. Knowing that result, playing two hours later, they lost against Malaga in a game when they lacked resources.
