Barcelona don’t have football problem but fatigue problem, claims Quique Seiten
Barcelona don’t have football problem but fatigue problem, claims Quique Seiten
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While Barcelona did eventually manage to beat Real Valladolid, the La Liga giants produced a lacklustre performance that boss Quique Setien has put down to fatigue. The Catalan giants have not been consistent since the restart which has allowed Real Madrid to surge ahead in the title race.
Barcelona’s performances since the restart have been inconsistent to say the least but while the La Liga giants haven’t lost yet, they’ve dropped points in three of their nine games. However, Real Madrid’s beyond impressive form has seen win every game so far with the Los Blancos turning a two point deficit turn into a four point lead in their favour, with Barcelona now faltering. Yet with two games left in the La Liga season, the title is still there to be won but the lead has been cut down to one point.
Barcelona’s win over Real Valladolid ensured that they cut the lead down and, although the Los Blancos do have one game in hand, there are concerns over the Catalan’s lacklustre performances. They laboured to a win over Valladolid with fans and critics alike worried that Setein’s tactics are not up to the mark but the Barcelona boss has rejected the notion. Instead, Setien admitted that it’s not a “football problem” but a fatigue problem as the club has played a lot of games over the last few weeks.
"It was not a football problem. We've played a lot of games, there's a lot of fatigue. We've got players that have played a lot of minutes. It wasn't a football issue. It was really comfortable up until that point. But by the end of the game, the team was tired. We played less than 72 hours ago [beating Espanyol 1-0], it was really hot out there and a lot of the players weren't fresh,” Setein said in his post match press-conference.
