Fifty, that’s the exact number of days since Barcelona played their last home game. The Camp Nou hasn’t been entertained by Barcelona players for 50 days.
The 3-2 winner against Elche on December 18 was the last time Camp Nou was entertained. And coming back, Barcelona witnessed an even grander win against Atlético Madrid by 4-2 margin.
In between, the Catalan side played seven games in three different competitions in between, yet none of them was in the Nou Camp. However surprising it may sound, it is the truth. The LFP can be blamed for having this weird set of fixtures.
Barcelona also suffered quite a bit because of it. They managed only three narrow wins in those seven games while losing two big games.
The losses against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao cost them two trophies. They had to face Sevilla, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao away within a month.
The toll of this was visible in their last game before the international break against Alaves where, it took everything for them to secure a win against one of the worst defences of the division. Apart from the result, the sluggishness and legginess were very much visible in their game.
But now they need to move forward, with a new month coming with new challenges. Both the fans and players would be excited to welcome the Camp Nou once again.
They have three out of six games in Camp Nou this month. The worrying sign is none of them would be anywhere near easy. In fact, the whole month is a heavily challenging one for Barcelona.
They will welcome Atletico Madrid on Sunday in an ever important clash which can possibly shape up the battle for Champions League spot.
The next action here is probably not something that the Camp Nou wanted to experience.
They will host Napoli on February 17, European football but the wrong one. After an abysmal Champions League group stage campaign, Barcelona have to continue their journey in Europa.
Napoli is a strong side and European football should not be taken lightly.
In their next action, Camp Nou would be up for revenge, with the wounds still fresh of Iker Muniain penalty and getting deprived of their only shot at a silverware this season.
Barcelona will welcome Athletic Bilbao on the last night of the month. In this case, Barcelona would be in a situation with not many options to lose points.
The away fixtures of Barcelona will also be demanding, both physically, technically and mentally.
Valentine's day will welcome Catalonia with the derby as Espanyol will host Barcelona on the of February 13.
A week later Barcelona will tour Valencia, with only three days to prepare from an exhausting tie against Napoli.
They will have only four days in hand before being welcomed at Naples. They didn’t have any home games this year. But when they are having, they are supposed to be a full house. Time to see how much Barcelona has for their fans after a disappointing year.
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