Barcelona sunk to a new low on Saturday night after the champions slumped to a disgraceful 2-0 loss to newly promoted Granada in match day 5 of the 2019/20 La Liga season.
A second defeat of the league season – both on the road – and a haul of just seven points from a possible fifteen meant the Blaugrana are going through their worst start to a campaign since 1994/95, a situation that is developing into a cause of concern for Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.
“I’m worried because away from home we aren’t getting good results,” he admitted.
“When four away games (in all competitions) have gone by, it’s a symptom that something isn’t too good.
“There are players who arrived late, but we haven’t been good, we’re not playing well away.
“We dominated, but we don’t turn that into goalscoring chances.
“We haven’t had a chance of turning the game around.”
“We’re missing precision in the final third, they tried to press us, we came out well from the pressure and then it was a matter of adding the finishing touch, that’s where we went wrong,” he explained.
“We will try to improve.”
Strangely, the Camp Nou giants have the worst defence in LaLiga Santander, with Valverde’s team occupying the joint top with Real Betis in having shipped more goals than any other side with nine goals conceded.
“It’s clear that it’s not a good stat for us and it’s not in line with what we’ve done in recent years,” he reflected.
“It’s linked to what we’ve said, we haven’t been good away.”
However, Valverde was clear as to whom to blame for the team’s inconsistent run of form.
“You always blame yourself for what happens, the actors are the players but in the end, the coach is responsible,” he said.
“You can always win or lose, but when you lose, you have to deserve to win and today it wasn’t like that.”
Barcelona next face Villarreal at Camp Nou in midweek before travelling to Getafe next weekend.