The biggest names in football have been linked to Barcelona and Real Madrid this summer, and many have arrived.Chile forward Alexis Sanchez was unveiled at the Catalan club on Monday, while Jose Mourinho's side are currently on tour with a handful of new recruits, including left-back Fabio Coentrao (who is being used in a more advanced role in the United States), winger Jose Callejon, and midfielders Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop. On top of all that, Madrid still hope to bring in a striker, with Neymar, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor all mentioned, while Barca turn their attentions to Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.
But what about the defenders?
Barca's backline was notoriously difficult to breach last season as the Catalans conceded just 21 goals in their 38 league games. Nevertheless, coach Pep Guardiola was forced to shuffle his squad in the absence of defensive leader and lynchpin Carles Puyol. Barcelona lost five games in total last season and Puyol was absent in all of those. His presence lifts the players around him and brings the best out of central defensive partner Gerard Pique. Puyol's troublesome knee injury saw him restricted to just seven games after Christmas - a total of just 377 minutes.
With his captain missing, Guardiola was forced to field a number of different players in central defence, including midfielders Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano. Such a situation, however, is hardly ideal and surely not one the Barca coach will be keen to see a repeat of in 2011-12. The idea, at the beginning of last season, had been for left-back Eric Abidal to fill in and he did so admirably until he was sidelined himself by a cancerous tumour in his liver.
Abidal returned triumphantly to lift the Champions League trophy, but whether he can resume a regular role remains unclear, while Puyol's participation in the coming campaign is also something of an unknown quantity at this stage.
So far this summer, Barcelona haven't come remotely close to signing a central defender, although the Catalan club were keen to bring in Sporting Gijon full-back Jose Angel, who ended up moving to Roma.
Madrid have signed a defender, 18-year-old Raphael Varane. The teenager was snapped up from Lens - with the help of new sporting director Zinedine Zidane - and looks to have a bright future ahead of him, but centre-back is one position where experience is vital and Mourinho is unlikely to blood the youngster in the big games just yet.
Varane replaces Ezequiel Garay, a decent back-up option who has left for Benfica as part of the deal (although negotiated separately) which took Coentrao to Madrid. That leaves Pepe, who began last season with an injury and is prone to muscle problems, Ricardo Carvalho and Raul Albiol as the other three central defenders. However, Pepe produced many of his best performances last season as a midfield enforcer and is expected to feature in that role in the big matches again this term. Albiol is generally reliable but doesn't appear to have won Mourinho's trust, while Sergio Ramos (another option) looks likely to start the season as the side's right-back.
Madrid do have options, arguably more than Barcelona, but as they attempt to break the Catalans' dominance domestically and in Europe, they can ill afford to be left short. Compare the situation to the wealth of attacking options Mourinho has at his disposal and in this particular department, the squad appears slightly too thin.
So, instead of the glamour and the Galacticos, perhaps Jose and Pep should consider at least one top-quality defensive reinforcement each this summer. It could be make or break because, after all, as the old adage states: "Strikers win games, but defenders win championships."
Source: goal.com
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