5 reasons Barcelona won't reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2018

#4 Dearth of creativity in midfield

Barca midfield lacks creativity and guile

Ivan Rakitic is Barcelona’s most creative midfielder with 5 assists. In all competitions, that is. Unless Messi is counted as a midfielder (and there is a genuine case for doing so, he drops deep all the time), Barcelona’s midfield is severely short of creativity.

Barcelona’s main source of assists is from the fullbacks on either side, plus Messi and Suarez assisting each other. Iniesta is often singled out for marking by the opposition, as the sole creative threat from midfield.

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona was a real-time demonstration on how to stifle this Barcelona side by crowding the midfield and asking fullbacks to defend deep.

Paulinho has won plaudits for introducing steel and strength to Barcelona’s midfield, yet he is hardly the graceful touch Barca needs to unlock defences. For all his defensive contributions, Rakitic has underwhelmed as a creative presence. Busquets is indispensable as the anchorman, with no obvious replacements if he is unavailable.

Under Valverde, Barcelona have improved immensely in defense, but the goal output has dropped from 3.05 per league game last season to 2.55 this season. As long as Barcelona keep winning, this won’t matter – but if and when Barcelona fall short in a high profile clash, expect this to figure prominently in the post-mortem report.