Barça has a serious problem on the wings: Koundé and Balde, far from their best form

Defense has been the weak point of Hansi Flick's Barcelona in 2025/26. The Catalan team has conceded 25 goals in 18 games, 10 of them in 5 Champions League matchdays. Against Chelsea, all four of the Blaugrana defenders had a night to forget, with Ronald Araujo being the main one singled out for his expulsion before halftime.

However, **Jules Koundé** and **Alejandro Balde** also had a forgettable match at Stamford Bridge. **The Frenchman scored an own goal in the 27th minute** while trying to clear a shot from Pedro Neto with an empty net. The '23' stumbled with the ball, which finally ended up between Ferran Torres' legs after several unusual bounces.

Koundé and Balde, exposed in Chelsea's three goals

In the play preceding Koundé's own goal, **Balde was caught out after a corner kick in Chelsea's favor**. The number '3' left his flank unprotected, allowing Marc Cucurella to break free with ease and deliver the low cross that led to the first 'blue' goal.

In the second half, Jules continued to have a very tough time in the one-on-one against Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fernández. The Argentinians found it very easy to attack down the left, with each of them managing a couple of assists. Garnacho's, however, was disallowed for offside.

A blurred and outmatched Barcelona is thrashed by Chelsea (3-0)

Álex, for his part, was once again left behind in the play that led to the Londoners' 2-0 goal. After a turnover by Frenkie de Jong, Estevao received a pass from Reece James that left him one-on-one with Pau Cubarsí. After dribbling past the center-back, the Brazilian unleashed a very powerful right-footed shot that beat Joan García.

Balde couldn't lend a hand to the '5', who also didn't have his night at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had 13 shots, 5 of them on target and had 3 goals disallowed for offside. Joan García made 3 saves, meaning the scoreline could have been much more lopsided for a Barça that, once again, was clearly outplayed at the back.

Flick could give his full-backs a 'talking-to' in LaLiga

The defensive problems stem, fundamentally, from timing errors when setting the offside trap, as well as failures in passing to facilitate clean build-up play. High pressing has also not worked, nor has the retreat to deal with counter-attacks from long balls, which often catch Koundé and Balde out of position on their flanks

Both the French and Catalan players have considerably lowered their level this season, contributing little in attack (they only have 3 assists between them), in addition to conceding too much space in individual duelsAgainst Chelsea, Jules only recovered 2 balls, although he won 6 out of 8 individual duels. Álex, for his part, had a passing accuracy of 80% (24/30), a low percentage compared to the reliability of Koundé's (92%) and Cubarsí's (90%) passing.

Hansi Flick could return **Eric García** to the right side and give minutes to **Gerard Martín** on the left against Alavés, as a wake-up call for two undisputed starters who, without a doubt, must raise their level in the coming weeks for Barça to stop suffering so much at the back

• 👉Consult more FC Barcelona news in our section dedicated to Football Club Barcelona.