The Great Defense of Barcelona

Barcelona are perhaps the team most associated with "positive" football today. In contrast, their incredible defense is rarely mentioned.

It will be harder to hide this week, however, as both of Barcelona's center-backs were chosen as part of the FIFA World XI — the best 11 players in the world, covering all positions. Barcelona's right full-back, Dani Alves, was chosen last year. Hence, it is easy to argue that Barcelona has the best defensive backs in football today.

However, Barcelona's defense does not end at its defenders. Watching them play, it is nearly impossible not to notice the relentless pressing of the forwards and midfielders. They put constant pressure on whomever has the ball. As a result, they often win back possession in the opponent's half of pitch, while the opposing players are running away from their own goal, a situation likely to produce good scoring opportunities.

Of course, Barcelona is best known for a style of play that focuses on possession. This too is often associated with a "positive" approach. But of course, it is just as important for defense as offense since the opponents cannot score without the ball.

To see the strength of Barcelona's defense, one need only look at their results in the Spanish Premiera Division. Out of 18 games played so far, they have kept 10 clean sheets. In 7 games, they conceded one goal. Only once have they conceded two goals in a game.

UPDATE: Corrected an error above. Barcelona lost 0-2 to Hercules in the second match of the season.

Some more stats on Barcelona's defense. This season they are averaging just 0.56 conceded goals per game (gpg). They have conceded one fewer goal than Mourinho's Real Madrid — and Mourinho is well-known for his defensive focus — even if we exclude the 5 goals conceded to Barcelona! Barcelona are doing much better than Manchester City, the best defense in the English Premier League, at 0.73 gpg. They are doing much better than Genoa, the best defense in Italy, at 0.83 gpg. The closest team in the top leagues is Borussia Dortmund, who are averaging 0.59 gpg conceded.

It's interesting to note that the next best defensive team in the Bundesliga is averaging 1.12 gpg conceded. Borussia Dortmund's advantage in defense is much larger in percentage terms than their advantage in offense: they have conceded 10 goals, while the next best is 19, and they have scored 39, while the next best is 35. The second place team Mainz has the second best defense (naturally!), conceding 19 goals, and while their offense is not second best, they have still scored 30.