Comments from Leganes defender ask major questions of Barcelona manager Hansi Flick | OneFootball

Barcelona fell to another damaging defeat against Leganes on Sunday night, unable to break through the Pepinero defence following an early set-piece goal from the away side. Leganes captain Sergio Gonzalez has explained the keys to their victory.

The Blaugrana have struggled to break down the opposition in La Liga of late, and Leganes were the latest to stymie them. Gonzalez said they were keen to keep Barcelona wide.

“We were following the second runs, and above all closing off a lot on the inside so that they could play from the outside, and there in the wide crosses, we felt very comfortable and I think that has been the key that they did not get through from the inside,” he told Cadena SER.

One of the features of Barcelona’s recent struggles has been the absence of Robert Lewandowski in the final half hour. Once again Hansi Flick withdrew the Polish forward early on Sunday night, and Gonzalez noted that it made life more comfortable for the Leganes backline.

“We in the low block felt more comfortable because we did not have to deal with a threat of that style as much. They have other players who are very skilled and we had to be very concentrated for any type of actions,” Gonzalez explained.

One of the question marks about Barcelona of late, beyond their squad depth, has been the full-back positions, and Sporting Director Deco seemingly wants to strengthen the position next summer. However Leganes left the wide areas to Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde on Sunday, and neither used that sufficiently, although the Frenchman did have Barcelona’s best chance of the second half.