Winning the Champions League is
nothing short of amazing, but it does
bring one significant problem to the next
season: The Club World Cup , and to a
lesser extent, the European Super Cup.
In Spain, winning La Liga or the Copa Del
Rey also brings two more games in the
form of the Spanish Super Cup. Overall,
these 5 additional games, plus additional
travel, present a burden for teams
seeking to repeat as European
champions. No team has done so in the
Champions League era.
Last season's Real Madrid provide a
blueprint on exactly how NOT to manage
the extra fixtures. Do Barcelona have the
right plan? First, let's look backward
Real Madrid's Mistake
In 2013-14, Real Madrid won the cup and
the Champions League. In 2014-15, while
they secured the ESC and the CWC, they
failed to win any of the big prizes and
additionally dropped the SSC. Prior to the
turn of the year, Real Madrid were in
first place in the league, winning their
Champions League group, and advancing
in the Copa del Rey. Up to the CWC final,
here is their run of form: 24W, 3L, 1D.
That's 73 points of a possible 84, or
86.9%.
After returning from beating San
Lorenzo in the CWC, their form was:
19W, 7L, 5D. A noticeable drop, 62
points of 93, or 66.67%. Of course some
of that drop comes due to playing a
higher caliber opponent in the
Champions League and in the cup. But
the drop is evident in the league as well,
where you might expect a team would
face the same caliber of competition from
one half of the season to the next.
In the first half, Real Madrid won 86.67%
of the points in league games. After the
CWC trip, Madrid won just 76.81%.
Things seemed rosy from September to
January, when Real Madrid reeled off an
impressive 22 wins on the bounce. But
after that came the injuries, and then,
the losses. Carlo Ancelotti was rightly
criticized for a lack of rotation. The extra
stress of such a long trip to go play two
games for the Club World Cup was
crucial. As was the ill-fated decision to
play a mid-season friendly against AC
Milan in Dubai. Taking an unnecessary
long flight in late December was pure
folly, regardless of the huge sums of cash
they got for it.
Madrid were still a good team after the
turn of the year, but a shadow of the
monster they were in the first half of the
season. On the other hand, Luis Enrique
rotated and rotated, almost to a fault. He
didn't play the same lineup twice until
January, and by the way, had been able
to keep Luis Suarez from playing a single
minute due to a (blessing in disguise?)
FIFA registration ban.
Guess which team finished out in great
form?
But it wasn't just Real Madrid. Elite
European teams in general did not rotate
as much as Luis Enrique's Barcelona. It is
partly luck, perhaps, but then again can
it be a total coincidence that Barca were
generally the healthier team heading into
important European matchups last
season?
Great credit must be given to Luis
Enrique, a long distance runner and all-
around fitness freak, and his physio Rafa
Pol for maintaining the team in tip-top
shape.
2015-16: Can Barcelona Get it
Right?
Luis Enrique has been forced into a lot
less rotation that he's accustomed to,
particularly due to injuries. The long-
term absence of Rafinha, as well as
Lionel Messi's two-month injury forced
Lucho to rely heavily on Neymar and
Suarez playing every game. Meanwhile,
Xavi went into semi-retirement in Qatar
while Pedro sought more opportunities at
Chelsea.
Luis Enrique has used substitutions
sparingly, going many games not using
all 3. He even played a cup game down a
man rather than using his last substitute
and risking overburdening a player. The
reality is that the key players, bar Messi,
have logged more minutes than they had
at this point last season.
We've started to see the effects of fixture
congestion. The 0-0 draw with Espanyol
was anything but inspiring, and
Barcelona have begun to slip in the
league for results just like that.
So how do you fix that? Well, again Luis
Enrique has that curse with a silver
lining. Two new players, Arda Turan and
Aleix Vidal, come into the team having
not played at all in the first half of the
season due to the FIFA ban.
That's exactly what the team needs, a
couple other players that Lucho can fully
trust to play important minutes. What's
more, he may need more of it. The fact
that he only used two substitutions in the
last league game perhaps proves this.
A couple of signings to energize the
squad, preferably younger players or
players who have not logged a lot of time
this past summer, for example.
Villlarreal's Denis Suarez fits the bill,
and though his signing may sting a bit
having sold him with a buyback that only
activates in the summer, it's the kind of
thing where it's better to arm yourself
well than be stuck haggling over a stray
million or two.
Celta's Nolito is a more expensive
proposition, but his quality is
undeniable. Barcelona will struggle with
creative accounting to get his signature,
but it's clear another forward is needed
to come in as an occasional substitute for
any of MSN. He is a Luis Enrique disciple
and equally a fan of Rafa Pol. Yes, he's a
bit expensive for a backup but isn't he
also the perfect fit?
One of the two is likely to come. and
Barcelona will be all the better for it.
Nolito is Lucho's #1 choice, but he's more
expensive.
Finally, if this team can manage it, why
not a backup left-back? Adriano is third
choice and honestly, if AS Roma really
are offering 4 or 5 million, why not move
him on? Jeremy Mathieu is the primary
backup to Jordi Alba , which to me is
troubling. It seems reasonable to find
another option. Again, a player with a lot
of stamina that has not been overused
should do the trick.
