Barcelona's treble triumph in 2014-15 was built on a strong base as the Blaugrana back line provided firm foundations for the club's fantastic forwards to finish off their rivals at the other end. This season, however, that's just not happening.
When Barca shipped four to Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup in Tbilisi last month en route to a 5-4 win in extra-time, it looked like a freak result. And when Luis Enrique's side then lost 4-0 to Athletic Bilbao in their next match, it was put down by many to tiredness, lack of rest and injuries.
Once is an accident. Twice? Perhaps. But three times? Unlikely. Barca's 4-1 defeat at Celta Vigo on Wednesday night means they have conceded four in three of their nine matches in 2015-16. Far from a one-off, it has become a worrying trend for the Catalan club.
It is also a perplexing one. In 2014-15, Luis Enrique's side conceded 38 goals in 60 matches. This term, they have already shipped 15 in just nine fixtures.
All of those 15 have come with Marc Andre ter Stegen in the team. The Germany goalkeeper picked the ball out of his net only 16 times in 21 games last season, but has had already let in 15 this time around - in just six games. Meanwhile, Claudio Bravo has kept three clean sheets in his only appearances so far in 2015-16.
The Chilean goalkeeper is currently injured and is expected to be back in time for the game against Sevilla next weekend, but Ter Stegen will start again on Saturday in what should be a much more straightforward game for Barca at home to promoted side Las Palmas.
Beaten from long range on several occasions this season, Ter Stegen has been criticised by many but backed by his team-mates, Germany goalkeeping great Oliver Kahn and also coach Luis Enrique.
"If it was any other goalkeeper, I would be worried [about his confidence]," the Asturian coach said earlier this week. "But confidence flows through his body. He has been a little unlucky in some of his performances, but he has the conditions to be Barca's goalkeeper."
At the age of just 23, Ter Stegen is still learning his trade and he will make mistakes. However, at Celta he was hardly helped by the poor performances of the defenders in front of him.
Gerard Pique (who was back from a four-match ban) and Javier Mascherano lost the ball 28 times between them at Balaidos and one of those led to the second goal as the Catalan conceded possession and Iago Aspas ran away to score for the Galician side.
Unfortunately for Barca, both were below par in Vigo and it was the first time their partnership had let in four goals in a Liga game. Along with Jeremy Mathieu and the returning Dani Alves in the full-back positions, the defence failed to win a single tackle in the second half. Not good enough.
"There can be a day when the opponent is better and beats you to every ball," Mascherano addmited afterwards. "Part of it is our fault and part of it is to their credit."
And Luis Enrique added: "When a team is better than you there is little more to say. I would rather lose to a team playing like Celta."
That may be so, but other teams will look at Celta's performance and attempt to do damage against Barca in similar style. And with three teams having scored four times against Barca now in 2015-16, the fear factor of playing the Catalans looks likely to be dramatically reduced - at least away from Camp Nou.
In their next five fixtures away from home in La Liga before Christmas, Barca face Sevilla, Getafe, Valencia, Real Madrid and Sporting Gijon - all before they are able to field new signings Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan as well.
It is a tricky calendar in the first half of the season for the Catalan club, with many more tough tests to negotiate for the champions in a crucial period of the campaign. Defensive improvements must come quickly.
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