A few weeks ago, had you spotted Barcelona’s trip to Granada on Saturday night in the La Liga schedule, you might well have predicted the winning team would be topping the table at the end of the evening.
You would not have guessed that team would be Granada.
But that is exactly what happened, the newly promoted Andalusians gaining a fully deserved 2-0 victory to leave Barca floundering in mid-table, with just seven points from their first five games.
It is Barca’s worst start for 25 years, but even more worrying than the result was the performance, as Ernesto Valverde’s men only managed two tame attempts on target while constantly looking vulnerable at the other end.
What’s going on? And what will the reigning champions do next? BBC Sport examines a full-blown early-season crisis at the Nou Camp.
The first thing to note about Barca’s poor form is that their troubles have been exclusively reserved for away trips.
The Nou Camp has remained a near-fortress, with Barca winning their last 12 straight home games and only losing twice on their own patch since Valverde arrived as manager in summer 2017.
On the road, though, they have been nothing short of disastrous in recent months, turning in a series of similarly bad performances far too consistently for it to be a mere coincidence.
Valverde’s men have now failed to win any of their past eight away games, with Saturday’s loss at Granada following a highly fortunate Champions League draw at Borussia Dortmund, where they only escaped thanks to a series of fine saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen, wayward Dortmund
finishing and the help of the woodwork.
After Saturday’s setback manager Valverde admitted: “I’m worried. Away from home we are not getting good results and when that happens a few times, like now, it’s a symptom of not [playing] very well. We are not playing good games.”
For a variety of reasons, whenever Barca are away from the comfort blanket of their own surroundings, they look uncomfortable. So what are those reasons?
In defence of Valverde and his players, their preparation for the new campaign was far from ideal.
Several players missed a large chunk of pre-season because of their participation in the Copa America, while the remaining skeletal squad embarked upon a commercially driven programme of friendlies featuring games on three continents in 13 days.
Perhaps as a consequence, they have suffered a series of injuries since the serious action commenced. Skipper Lionel Messi was sidelined before the curtain-raiser at Athletic Bilbao, and there have also been absences for Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti.
They should sack him, I have said this before.