体坛英语新闻：What's gone wrong with Barca?

MADRID, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tuesday was a cold night in FC Barcelona' s Camp Nou Stadium and the 98,000 fans in the stands had very little comfort on the pitch as their side was beaten 3-1 at home to Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.

As if losing to their historic rival was not bad enough, it was the second important defeat suffered by the leaders of the BBVA Primera Liga and follows on from a 2-0 setback away to AC Milan in the San Siro Stadium in the Champions League: a game that had ended with the Barca players promising to set right the errors they had committed.

That clearly didn't happen against Real Madrid as Barca fell into the same errors as before, looking static and nervy in possession of the ball while at the same time worryingly fragile in defense.

Madrid' s three goals, which came thanks to two counter-attacks, one of which provoked a penalty and the other a tap in from Cristiano Ronaldo, and a free header buried by Rafael Varene, highlighted Barca' s defensive frailties which have seen them concede goals in their last 12 matches.

Barca struggle to defend set pieces, given in part a lack of height in a side containing small players such as Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Cesc Fabrigas and Xavi Hernandez, but they also look open to the counter-attack.

Alves may be a fine player going forward, but defensively he has made errors, the most important of which is his tendency to get dragged out of position into the middle of the pitch, allowing rivals to get in behind him.

That is partly due to Barca' s attacking strategy, which sees him and left back Jordi Alba committed to attack and central defenders, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique forced to cover extra spaces. Sergio Busquets, who plays the holding midfield role has in the past, provided cover, but against Milan and Madrid, Busquets was out of position, 15 yards too far forward.

The defensive errors would not be so significant if Barca' s midfield was at its best. Barca have always taken risks with their style of play which relies on swift passing and movement and maintaining possession. They have always been open to be hit on the break, but in the past they have not lost the ball with the ease they did against Milan and Madrid.

The trident, Xavi Iniesta and Busquets, supported by Pedro Rodriguez, Cesc Fabrigas and the forward runs of Alves and Alba have become expert in keeping the ball and probing for space in Barca' s rivals. That is not happening of late: Pedro is off the pace, Xavi and Cesc are physically struggling and Iniesta can' t do it on his own.

As a result, Barca are losing the ball more, their rivals are launching more breaks and they are receiving more goals. Also Leo Messi has been forced to drop ever deeper looking for the ball, taking him further away from where he does most damage.

Meanwhile striker David Villa is forced to spend his time watching impatiently from the dugout, when a striker of his quality could be vital for attacking ball into the rival penalty area.

There is another major factor. One nobody in Barcelona likes to mention: coach Tito Vilanova is currently in New York undergoing treatment for cancer and his assistant, Jordi Roura has taken over the reins at the Camp Nou.

Roura insists he is in constant communication with Vilanova, but the fact is Vilanova' s absence have taken away an ability to react at speed, hardly surprising given that Roura was second assistant coach a year ago and it is no insult to a fine club man and an excellent coach to suggest that, perhaps he is struggling after being thrust into the limelight in circumstances which are extremely difficult.

Vilanova is expected to return sometime during March, but there is no firm date and there is no way that the worries over his health can have anything other than a negative effect over the mood of the squad. Add to that physical tiredness as we approach the end of another long season and a lack of experience in the dugout and you have factors which help explain the problem.

Everyone is crossing their fingers for Vilanova to recover, first as a person and secondly as a coach, if and when he retakes his seat in the dugout, we can expect Barca to bounce back, but with the return leg against Milan in two weeks Barca probably need to learn from recent errors without him. Tuesday saw them fail at the first attempt, will they get it right next time?