FCBARCELONA.CAT
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Football
10.04.2009 11:05
Four clean sheets
Marc Guillén
Barça have been outstanding in attack, but this is balanced by some fine defending, as reflected by the way that they have not conceded a goal in four matches and have the best defensive stats in the league.
FC Barcelona are on the verge of the semi finals of the Champions League, are going strong in the domestic championship, and have not let a goal in for four games.
Best defensive streak
After another shutout against Bayern Munich, Barça have
equalled their best run of the season without conceding goals. Víctor Valdés didn’t have to
pick the ball out of the back of the net against any of Bayern, Valladolid, Malaga or Almería.
It was at a similar stage of the first half of the season when Barça also went on a four-game spree without conceding, in games against Bilbao, Basle, Benidorm and Almería.
Four in the league
Also, if we ignore the Champions League games, Barça have also gone four
games in the league without letting a goal in. Since the 4-3 reverse at the Calderón, Barça have
kept sides entirely at bay, which has helped maintain their lead of six points on closest rival
Real Madrid.
Least goals conceded
But good defending is nothing new this season, for Barça have some impressive goals against statistics. Only 24 goals have been registered against Barcelona, while Sevilla have leaked 26 and Madrid, 31.
“Best form of defence is attack”
Manager Josep Guardiola is a firm believer in the old adage that “the best form of defence is
attack” because “as long as we have the ball and are creating chances, they can’t
cause any danger to us”. That was the reasoning that led Guardiola to send his side on the
offensive against Bayern, and he was obviously quite right. Barça amazed Europe with their
attacking flair, and Bayern rarely made it out of their half, only having one clear-cut goalscoring
opportunity in the entire match.
