Alavés, Granada and, now, Antwerp. Once again Barça conceded a goal in the first minutes of a match. This time it took 75 seconds for the very young Arthur Vermeeren, Belgian midfielder, to beat Iñaki Peña. If the defeat against Girona raised doubts, the start of the game against modest Antwerp was a huge splash of cold water.
Bryan Zaragoza, at 17 seconds, put Granada ahead on October 8. A month later, Samu Omorodion took one more time, 18 seconds, to do the same with Alavés. Now, already into December, it is Arthur Vermeeren who once again caused embarrassment among the Barça players.
Barça's defensive data is more than worrying. The fragility of Xavi's team is becoming more acute every day. And the fact that it is Antwerp, a team that has not scored in the entire group stage, that scores first, does not help to improve the feelings.
In fact, in the last month the starts to the game have been really bad for Barça. In six of the last seven games the Barça team has started behind on the scoreboard. Of them they lost two, drew one and won three, without taking into account what happens against Antwerp.
