Barcelona Regains Free-Kick Weapon After Long Absence Since Messi's Departure

Barcelona has regained its effectiveness in executing direct free kicks during the current season, having scored three goals of this type for the first time since Lionel Messi left the team in the summer of 2021, achieving the club's best numbers in this aspect in recent years.

Raphinha's goal against Real Betis gave the Catalan team its third free-kick goal this season, after Marcus Rashford had previously scored two other goals, one against Real Madrid in a match where Barcelona clinched the Spanish league title, and the other against Copenhagen in the Champions League.

The Spanish newspaper 'Sport' explained that Barcelona clearly struggled to execute free kicks since Messi's departure, who scored 50 goals from direct fouls in the club's shirt, and the team failed to score from any free kick throughout the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons despite numerous attempts, before Ferran Torres scored the first goal of this type after the Argentine star's departure during the victory over Real Betis in September 2023.

The newspaper added that Barcelona's crisis was not only related to Messi's absence but also to the lack of a consistently specialized player in executing free kicks. Rashford emerged this season as one of the most prominent executors thanks to his previous experience with Manchester United, while Raphinha also entered the list of executors after his recent goal against Betis.

Despite the improved numbers this season, Barcelona is still searching for a long-term free-kick executor, amid rising talks within the club about the possibility of Lamine Yamal becoming the main option in the future, having already started executing set-pieces, though he has yet to score his first goal from a direct free kick.