Ernesto Valverde Admits He's Worried After Barcelona Suffer Another Terrible Defeat
Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has admitted he's worried about the club's form away from home after newly promoted Granada secured a 2-0 win over the reigning league champions on Saturday.
Ramon Azeez opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes with the easiest goal he'll score in his career, nodding the ball over the line after a deflected cross left Marc-André ter Stegen stranded in between the sticks.
Substitute Álvaro Vadillo added another from the penalty spot during the second half to inflict Barcelona's second defeat of the season already, and Valverde couldn't hide his frustrations at full-time, admitting he has concerns over his side's form on the road.
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"I'm worried because away from home we aren't getting good results," Valverde said, quoted by Marca. "When four away games have gone by, it's a symptom that something isn't too good.
"There are players who arrived late, but we haven't been good, we're not playing well away. We dominated, but we don't turn that into goalscoring chances. We haven't had a chance of turning the game around."
Barcelona currently have the joint-worst defensive record in La Liga this season, conceding more goals than even bottom of the table CD Leganés, one of just two sides who still haven't picked up a single point in Europe's top five leagues.
"It's clear that it's not a good stat for us and it's not in line with what we've done in recent years," he added. "It's linked to what we've said, we haven't been good away.
"You always blame yourself for what happens, the actors are the players but in the end, the coach is responsible. You can always win or lose, but when you lose, you have to deserve to win and today it wasn't like that."
