“Barça midfielders do not suck”. It is more than a vision of an amateur or some technician involved. It is a tangible reality in data. And if compared to the leader of the competition, Real Madrid overwhelms. Anyone who remembers the Classic of the first round will count a Madrid bombing from outside the area with Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos and Isco finishing off against Ter Stegen against Messi's skirmishes against the world.
The matter can be moved to the regular course of LaLiga with very striking records. These are the figures of Barça midfielders: average of midfielders' shots, 9.22; average of shots within the area, 5.56; average shots outside the area, 3.67; average of shots at goal to goal, 3.56; and half goals, 1.56.
And these are the figures of Madrid midfielders: average total shots, 34.43; average of shots within the area, 13.57; average shots outside the area, 20.86; average of goal shots, 11.57; and half goals, 3.29.
Does that mean Madrid midfielders quintuple in shots outside the area Barcelona flyers and triples them in goal shots, total shots and shots within the area.
The statistic considers De Jong, Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, Arthur, Aleñá, Rafinha, Riqui Puig and Collado as Barça midfielders; and Casemiro, Kroos, Valverde, Modric, Isco, Lucas Vázquez and James as midfielders of Madrid.
There are really significant data. De Jong has once pulled out of the area for the 49 shots outside Kroos' box. The Dutchman has made eight total shots in 36 games, Kroos, 63 in 32 games. Up to five Madrid midfielders reach or exceed 30 shots on target. They are Kroos (63), Casemiro (52), Modric (32), Valverde (30), Isco (30). In Barça, the player who has thrown the most is Rakitic (28). Only Arturo Vidal is on one of the podiums of this unique Madrid-Barça pulse, as a good starter he is, the Chilean has finished 16 times inside the area. They only exceed those numbers in Madrid Casemiro (19) or Isco (18).
Data that clearly express that Barca midfielders have an obvious deficit in the launch That can only have two explanations. One, that there is a lack of aptitude in that specific facet of the game. The other, that there is a direct message from the technicians to look for other options instead of testing the opposing goalkeepers. In the background, the debate that begins to settle in Barça on whether the players, out of excessive respect for Messi, they always try to find the Argentine instead of finishing off the door. But that Barça has a problem with the shot on goal is evidence.