Barcelona hunt Spanish Super Cup glory in Jeddah in bid to halt collapse in domestic form

Hansi Flick's side face Athletic Club having dropped off the pace after a blistering start to the season

Barcelona have struggled when teenaged star Lamine Yamal has not been fit. EPA

Related: Athletic Club's home-grown heroes up against Barca's exceptional talent

Barcelona were 10 points clear of Atletico Madrid in La Liga in early November. Today, having taken only five points from the last 21 available, the Catalans are three points behind having played a game more. Barca, who defeated Real Madrid 4-0 away in October, are also behind their greatest rivals.

Clear favourites for the title two months ago, Barcelona are third, two points ahead of Athletic Club, whom they meet in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final on Wednesday in Jeddah. The winners play whoever triumphs between Real Madrid and Mallorca.

Barcelona’s collapse in league form has been spectacular. Coach Hansi Flick took over from Xavi in time for this season and his team won 11 of their opening 12 league games, the most notable being that triumph at the Bernabeu on October 26. That came at the end of a week when they also put four past Bayern Munich. After a 3-1 win against neighbours Espanyol a week later, Barcelona were flying. Then it all went wrong as they went six league games without a win and conceded late goals to lose 2-1 against Atletico (96th minute) and Betis (94th minute). Against Celta Vigo away, Barcelona led 2-0 after 86 minutes but drew 2-2. Diego Simeone’s side had never won away at Barcelona until last month.

Video: Mina Rzouki takes a look at the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah

Spanish Super Cup to kick off in Jeddah as Athletic Bilbao face Barcelona in first semi-final

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There’s a body of Barcelona fans who deride those who only look at results, and they have a point. Even though the Catalans have hit poor form, the games have been hugely entertaining, the team have played well and they boast some of the most exciting players in world football. But that’s the crux; they’re young, they make mistakes, they run out of steam.

Throw in absences to key players – and 17-year-old Lamine Yamal is already a key player – and the team suffer. The first game Yamal didn’t start this season was at Osasuna in the eighth league match and Barcelona lost 4-2. The second game he didn’t start was five matches later – and the second defeat. The third game he missed saw dropped points. Yamal also didn’t start at home to Atletico and Flick’s side lost, but he had started against Leganes at home a week earlier and they also lost that one.

Barcelona’s home-grown kids have been brilliant, but the spectacular wins against Munich and Madrid brought scrutiny and rivals worked out better how to counter them. Against Bayern, Barcelona overcame the one-on-one man marking of the Bavarians. They also defended high and it paid off in attack, yet Barcelona were vulnerable to balls behind their defence. Up front, Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri and Fermin Lopez swapped positions, their continual movement disrupting and disorganising opponents. And they were so young, with six players aged 21 or under and an average age of 24.5 years increased by Robert Lewandowski’s presence.

Defender Pau Cubarsi, 17, has been a revelation, fellow Catalan Marc Casado, 21, adept against the best in midfield. New signing (for now) Dani Olmo looks the top class international that he is, physically strong after playing in Germany and Croatia and effective in front of goal. Olmo, 26, can’t play against Athletic Club because he’s not eligible to be registered, a mess of a situation that has dominated the two weeks when Spain had no football over the festive period. He'll be missed, but it’ll give a chance to Frenkie de Jong. So good have been the Catalan kids, established names including De Jong have been more peripheral.

Barcelona’s stunning start to the season surprised even Flick, the German who speaks English in the dressing room and to the media. If things had gone to plan, they’d still be top of the league and playing back at Camp Nou, but the initial date put forward by the club for a December 2024 return always seemed optimistic. The redeveloped venue will seat 105,000 when complete and the idea was to open it with 65,000 seats available over two tiers. But while work has been constant since April 2023, it’s far from finished. They hope to be back at Camp Nou for the start of next season, but even that’s in doubt.

They have played at the city’s Olympic Stadium for 18 months now, a beautiful old stadium on a mountain overlooking the city, but it’s cold and not ideal for football. Crowds have held up but the December 15 home defeat to Leganes saw the first sub-40,000 crowd of the season. There’s only been one sell out, the 50,041 who watched October’s stunning 4-1 win against Bayern Munich.

Barcelona have won all five of their Champions League games since an opening round defeat at Monaco, all of them convincing wins as they put five past Young Boys and Red Star, four past Bayern and three past Brest and then Borussia Dortmund away last month. Dortmund hadn’t been defeated at home for four years before the Catalans hit them with three second-half goals.

Barcelona are second of 36 teams in the Uefa Champions League, but when they return from Saudi Arabia it will be their domestic form which is most scrutinised. Barcelona are still Spain’s leading scorers, with Lewandowski and Raphinha the top two marksmen in the league, but there are other questions outstanding.

Can their Uruguayan warrior of a defender Ronaldo Araujo, their best in recent years, be as influential when he returns after a long absence because of a hamstring injury? Araujo captained the side to a 4-0 Copa del Rey win at third tier Barbastro on Saturday before the team flew to Jeddah.

A bigger test will be an Athletic side who are fourth in La Liga and in form, unbeaten in 10, still proudly Basque-only and enjoying higher average crowds than Barcelona this season. Under Ernesto Valverde, who coached with success at Barcelona, Athletic are also second in the Europa League group. The final of that competition is in their own stadium in May and the team who went so long without a major trophy until last season boast a team good enough to win it. Barcelona’s performance in the Super Cup will be under the microscope as a marker of where they will go next.