Sergio Ramos’ header at the very last second silenced FC Barcelona’s fans that packed Nou Camp stadium to see El Clásico between their team and Real Madrid. Until that big play, Barça had fought for what looked like a 1-0 victory after Uruguayan Luis Suárez’s score. But Ramos’ goal –once again at the last breath of regulation time- registered a final draw that kept Madrid’s six-point lead at the top of the standings.  

 “There are still many games to be played in La Liga”, said local defender Gerard Piqué to the media, sending a message of hope to Barça fans.  

It is true. Fourteen games have been played in La Liga this season and there are still 24 remaining. Anyway, the six-point disadvantage seems very hard to overcome for the Catalan squad. Madrid is playing efficient soccer. Zinedine Zidane’s team does not lose and knows how to earn points in difficult situations. FC Barcelona’s biggest hurdle in the race to catch Real Madrid is FC Barcelona itself. The team has lost the effectiveness at Nou Camp stadium that made Barça Europe’s strongest team not so long ago.  

This season, FC Barcelona has played seven La Liga games at its own soil, obtaining poor results: three wins, three draws and one loss. In fact, if we add the last four home-matches from last year, the results are even worse (five victories, three ties and three defeats) for a team that had won the previous 15 games played at Nou Camp.

In the current season, FC Barcelona has already lost nine points at home, something that did not happen since the first year the club was managed by Pep Guardiola back in the 2008-2009 campaign.  

What is wrong? Why Nou Camp is now a problem instead of an advantage? The answer relays in two factors: overconfidence and lack of spaces on offense.  

The first one has even affected team manager Luis Enrique Martínez, who benched key stars in home contests against Alavés and Málaga, thinking wins were going to be easy to achieve. Luis Enrique’s idea proved wrong as Alavés registered a shocking upset at Nou Camp, 2-1, and Málaga earned a 0-0 draw. 

The second factor is linked to FC Barcelona forwards. It is true Suárez, Neymar and Messi form the most feared attack in the world. Anyway, if we analyze deeply the Uruguayan and Brazilian skills, especially Neymar’s, we can see that to shine they require open spaces. When teams come to Barcelona –even Real Madrid- they pack too many men on defense, closing all open spaces. With the arrival of Neymar and Suárez, Barça is lethal on the fast break, but has problems attacking opponents when they regroup around their own box.  

 As Piqué said “there are still many games to be played in La Liga”. FC Barcelona can still challenge Real Madrid for the Spanish soccer supremacy. But to do it, Barça would need to win all the 12 remaining games at Nou Camp. Right now it looks very hard, but keep in mind two years ago achieving it was almost automatic.