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Barcelona may be perfect in the young season, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been smooth sailing to start off. They had to come back from trailing newly promoted Levante by two goals at halftime to secure a victory over the weekend, for starters. Like last season, the defense has been vulnerable, but it hasn’t mattered much because the Barcelona attack is so devastating that they can overcome any deficit that they’re faced with. In Champions League play, that did catch up with them, and it leads one to wonder if that will again be the case if something doesn’t change this season.

How to watch Rayo Vallecano vs. Barcelona, odds

  • Date: Sunday, Aug. 31 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
  • Location: Estadio de Vallecas — Madrid, Spain
  • Live stream: ESPN+
  • Odds: Rayo Vallecano +600; Draw +430; Barcelona -300

Exciting attacks are fun to watch, but there is a balance that must be struck, and some of that is where Barcelona’s shot locations are from. They’re a team that can hit a shot from anywhere on the pitch, and they play like it. Lamine Yamal had the shot that forced the own goal for Barcelona’s last win, but let’s take a look at his shot locations so far this season for the young superstar, known to cut on to his left foot time and time again.

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Yamal has taken 17 shots this season, and a whopping 12 of those have come from outside the box. It’s spectacular to watch, but when these shots don’t become goals, they turn into easy counter-attacking opportunities. For teams with a better defensive midfielder — or defense in general — those are attacks that can be cleaned up without issue. But for Barcelona, they don’t have that luxury, even with Joan Garcia being an upgrade in net.

Garcia has already made four saves in two matches, preventing 0.91 goals, the second-best number in La Liga so far, but when he’s put in tough positions due to the attack in front of him, there’s only so much that can be done to keep the ball out of the net. It’s an extremely entertaining experience to watch Barcelona play like this, but it’s not something that will see them win the Champions League.

The best managers in the world have a plan b when just attacking isn’t enough to break down a team. For Flick, he subs on different attackers and continues to go at the defense. If Real Madrid’s improvement under Xabi Alonso continues, Barcelona’s current mode of operating may not be enough to win La Liga due to how small their margin of error is. Facing tougher opposition, one loss could be the difference to retaining the title, and that’s where Barcelona will need to prove that they can consistently defend while keeping a dynamic attack.