FC Barcelona were handed some news on Monday afternoon that they could well have done without.
Benfica are so disappointed by Douglas, that they want to send him back to Barca, preferably as quickly as January.
Yes, the right-back who has more medals than Barcelona appearances, could be back again. Like a bad smell, the club just can’t get rid of him.
That said, if he had enough quality, the Catalans would welcome him with open arms at this juncture. Gerard Deulofeu is still flattering to deceive and you feel it’s only a matter of time before he’s sent packing again.
Aleix Vidal clearly hasn’t impressed Ernesto Valverde either, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was gone too.
Nelson Semedo’s form has been patchy at best. When he’s good, he’s very, very good, but when he’s bad, it’s understandable why Valverde would withdraw him from the firing line.
Which leaves Sergi Roberto, who has played in both the right-back and more attacking right-hand-side roles. He’s given his best in both but you couldn’t say he’s better in one or the other. Since Dani Alves departed for Juventus, Barca still haven’t come up with a long-term solution. You could sense Lionel Messi’s frustration at Valencia as, time and again, he got in the right positions only for the ball not to reach him.
Compare that to the service he receives down the left side from Jordi Alba which, in many respects, still mirrors the deliveries he had from Alves; almost telepathic at times.
Of course, it does take work and time to build such relationships, but Alves has been gone for well over a season now. That’s long enough for the sporting director to have found precisely the right replacement(s).
Perhaps the imminent return of Ousmane Dembele may alleviate these issues to a degree. No one is in any doubt as to the quality that the youngster possesses, he just hasn’t had the opportunity to show it at Barcelona yet.
Even if he’s able to take on the lion’s share of attacking responsibility, it still doesn’t answer the question of how Barca are going to cope defensively.
Their weakness is well known, and it was plainly obvious against Valencia that this area was the main focus of Los Che’s attacking intent. Indeed, it was down that side where Valencia created their goal.
It’s a hole that needs to be plugged quickly because Barca’s successes in 2017/18 could depend on it.
