Barcelona's Achilles heel could undermine team's attacking excellence as unwanted club record is equalled

Barcelona equalled an unwanted Champions League club record in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou.

Ansgar Knauff sent Frankfurt ahead in the first half of the contest, but a double from Jules Kounde early in the second period allowed the Catalan giants to pick up all three points on home soil.

The 21st-minute goal from Knauff saw Barcelona equal an unwanted Champions League club record, with the Catalan side now conceding a goal in each of their last nine matches in the competition, matching their worst ever run without a clean sheet, which occurred between October 2023 and September 2024.

Barcelona managed to turn the match around to secure all three points, but they are still outside of the automatic qualification spots in the Champions League table, sitting 14th in the division, two points behind eighth-placed Liverpool.

Hansi Flick's side will take on Slavia Prague (A) and Copenhagen (H) in their final two league phase games in January, and there is no question that the club will be targeting two wins.

Barcelona's defensive problems have been apparent during the 2025-26 campaign

Barcelona suffered a major suspension blow on Tuesday, though, with a yellow card for Lamine Yamal ruling him out of the clash with Slavia Prague.

The Catalan team have such quality in the final third of the field, with Yamal, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres all capable of winning games on their own, but Barcelona's defensive problems could cost them this term.

Indeed, the La Liga champions have conceded 11 times in their six Champions League games this term, and to put that into context, league stage leaders Arsenal have only shipped one goal.

Barcelona have also conceded 20 goals in their 16 La Liga matches this term, which is the joint-most in the top 12, so a worrying trend is emerging.

Fortunately for Flick's team, they are comfortably the leading goalscorers in the league this season, finding the back of the net on 47 occasions, 15 more than second-placed Real Madrid.

Flick "happy" with "very important three points"

“I’m happy. We’ve won three very important points, but above all because we controlled the game. It wasn’t easy," Flick said during his post-match press conference on Tuesday.

“I’m proud because the team knew how to do what needed to be done. I congratulate my entire staff for their pre-match analysis.

“I haven’t looked at it (the table). Right now, I’m not interested in that. We have to focus on ourselves and on getting six more points than we have now. Of course, goal difference is important. We’re taking it game by game.

"It’s not easy to play in the Champions League. All the opponents hurt you. They fight. It’s the top competition in Europe and perhaps the world.

“We made the change at half-time. We wanted to change things up. Raphinha was everywhere, he was all over the place, and I don’t know if that was a good thing, but he has intensity.”

Barcelona will be aiming to seven straight wins in La Liga when they welcome Osasuna to Camp Nou on Saturday evening.