Bravo Barça but Room for Improvement Still Exists.

FC Barcelona got their revenge against Real Madrid and keep making 2015 a memorable year. However, there’s still room for improvement for Barça.

It always feels good whenever our Blaugrana win El Clásico. It’s even better when it’s at the Camp Nou towards the end of the season. It’s even better when the victory means Barça now have a four point lead atop of the league standings. It’s still premature to talk about a possible treble but they do control their destiny for the league crown and it was announced today that the Camp Nou will be the venue for the Copa del Rey Final which only enhances their chances. Additionally, their opponents in the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals will be PSG, so Barça will get to face a familiar foe in their quest for the Champions League title.

Nevertheless, Barça’s performance, as good as it was in El Clásico, still has room for improvement. One of the big concerns this team has dealt with during the season is of them not being cutthroat enough. During the game, Barça squandered numerous scoring chances to add to their lead. There was the Neymar miss moments before Real Madrid equalized and then the squandered chance after being up 2-1 to put this game to bed. Barça already should have learned from their missed penalties against City and Villarreal but nonetheless, they kept missing chances and allowed Real Madrid to stay alive in the game.

This penchant for not finishing teams off needs to be improved if they want to make it to the Champions League Final. Goals are a precious commodity in the knock out stages so they can ill afford to miss scoring chances or else they will suffer an ugly fate such as their elimination by the hands of Chelsea back in 2011-2012 Champions League Semi-Finals. When the game is close, Barça cannot miss chances to add to their lead or else one slip up and suddenly Barça are the ones leaving the party early.

Additionally, as good as Barça’s defending is on set pieces, they still continue to concede goals. Since the New Year, Barça have kept clean sheets in just four league matches. Furthermore, they have only had two consecutive matches with clean sheets and that was back in January. Now it’s true they have conceded the fewest amounts of goals in the league, but since February, they have only kept two clean sheets in all competitions. Bad habits can become a trend if this is not addressed just as the team is heading down the homestretch.

The international break will give Luis Enrique and his staff ample time to go over these issues and keep working on keeping their players fit and ready. One can hope that the players did not let this result get them carried away in thinking that there is no need for improvement. Neymar’s form lately has been off and reminiscent of his drop in form last season too. We cannot have the likes of him and others suddenly not hitting all cylinders. Lucho will have his work cut out for him in making sure everyone’s form is superb for these next two months. Until then, savor the flavor and then get back to work when the players come back from international break.