Barcelona 5-0 Sevilla: Sevilla unable to cope with high pressing, movement, or Daniel Alves
The starting line-ups
The showcase game of this La Liga round was effectively over before half-time.
Barcelona played what many consider to be their strongest line-up. Xavi Hernandez was back in the side, Andres Iniesta was alongside him, with Pedro in the front three. Eric Abidal was at left-back.
Sevilla were forced to rejig with left-back Fernando Navarro injured. 19-year-old Antonio Luna played there, with Alexis Delgado in the centre alongside Martin Cacares. Abdoulay Konko was moved back to right-back with Diego Perotti on the right wing.
Barcelona started at an incredible pace – pressing intensely throughout the pitch, and Sevilla conceded possession too readily in their own third. They had no clear out-ball – Sevilla’s shape was set out in order to shut down Barcelona, but their transitions were non-existent. Barca kept winning the ball high up the pitch, and after just three minutes Lionel Messi put it in the net.
Barcelona’s shape is always fluid which naturally results in different systems for different games, but this season they appear to have even more separate formations than in the previous two campaigns under Pep Guardiola. Jonathan Wilson has put forward a case that they often look like an old-fashioned W-W. Here, their strategy was to shift Gerard Pique across to the right touchline, and push Dani Alves on very, very high up the pitch.
Alves unstoppable
In a sense this is nothing new – Alves is probably the most attacking full-back in the world, and Barcelona’s centre-backs are used to coming over to the flanks when in possession. But, much like Sergio Busquets’ positioning against Atletico Madrid, the difference was that it was taking place on a much more full-time basis. Alves pushed Diego Capel back so much that Capel was playing like a left-wing-back or even an additional left-back, where he didn’t look comfortable at all.
It’s getting to the point where teams are going to have to field left-backs at left midfield if they have any desire to stop Alves, such is his attacking intent. On that note, it’s interesting to note that this strategy was favoured by Inter in their “successful” second leg against Barcelona last year (Cristian Chivu), and also by Valencia when outplaying Barcelona in the first half earlier this month (Jeremy Mathieu). At a stretch, you could also include Hercules (Royston Drenthe) in this category for the underdogs’ shock 0-2 victory at the Nou Camp. Drenthe is not a nominal left-back, but he is capable of playing there (he did so for Real Madrid under Manuel Pellegrini) and considering that Hercules were playing a diamondish shape in midfield, it is notable that they fielded someone comfortable of tracking a full-back into deep positions.
Barcelona also seemed to be set up to aid Alves’ path forward. Pedro Rodriguez was out on the left whilst Messi and David Villa both operated in the centre. Again, this was not a case of Messi cutting inside, more of him being stationed in the centre on a full-time basis, sometimes moving out to the right.
Sevilla’s problems with Alves were not helped by the fact that Luna was having significant difficulties at left-back. He was caught out for Villa’s goal – though it was a fantastic strike, cutting in and curling the ball into the far corner with his left foot.
The problems down that side would have been lessened had Capel taken a great chance at 1-0 – meeting a cross from the opposite flank, but volleying straight at Victor Valdes.
The game was effectively over just before half-time when Konko saw red for two trips. Sevilla, down to ten men and with a two-goal deficit, were simply overrun in the second half, and Barcelona scored some fantastic goals. The third was by that man Alves – who anticipated a wayward back-header and acrobatically volleyed home – look at his starting position for an indication of how high up the pitch he played, the furthest player forward – before two similar goals from Messi and Villa rounded off the evening.
Conclusion
Despite the slightly unusual positioning of Alves, this was classic Barcelona. Pressing high up the pitch, retaining the ball well, stretching the play to make the pitch as wide as possible, and some fantastic goals.
Sevilla came with an attack-minded side but their gameplan was confusing – it wasn’t clear whether they wanted to close down high up the pitch, or sit back and invite pressure. They ended up doing neither, and there was too much space between the lines for Barcelona to operate in. A sheer inability to deal with Alves was the problem in more specific terms.
Barcelona 5-0 Sevilla: Sevilla unable to cope with high pressing, movement, or Daniel Alves
Thats a very interesting point ZM. May be I must watch the game once again to see Alves was the difference. He did have a good game, but that was just typical. After many games Barca play its typical master class and the luck in front of the goal also seems to have returned to them.
I hope you noticed that Messi is always presented as their central striker, but he is playing a much more withdrawn role, going to both the wings at times though. Villa is still playing the striker role. Guardiola is keeping opponents guessing with his formations but actually all his players can spring up anywhere on the pitch. Even Pique could be a striker asking Pedro to run all the way back for the ball. It would not be a good idea at all to guess the formations of Barca. I think they just play their game.
Do you think Pep would use Macherrano Busquests and Xavi in the mid and Iniesta, Villa Messi on the front for the big games.
Seems like it was basically a 3-6-1 with Pique covering Alves’ rampaging runs forward, and alot of Barcelona’s play centred around Alves down the right hand side, and the usual intense posession domination. Tactically, Pep is good, it would be easy to think with Barcelona they are just told to go out and play, and with all the creative players, there bound to get a goal at some point, quite like Maradona’s approach with Argentina at the World Cup, but there is structure and organisation, the players knowledge of when and where to press the ball, and of course, the discipline and positional brilliance of Sergio Busquets who allows Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc the freedom to attack.
When is Madrid v Barcelona? What does ZM himself, and fellow ZM readers think of how the teams will be set up? WHAT A GAME IT WILL BE.
Posted by Roberticus
3-6-1?
But Pedro was stationed extremely high against the Sevilla right-back. Messi was also a forward.
More like a 3-4-3, which became either 4-2-3-1 in defensive phase
I’d argue that Barca’s attacking shape is a kind of lop sided 4-4-2, because Alves obviously pushes up almost level with Pedro, with Pique shifting to the right back position and Busquets dropping back next to Puyol.
Another thing i have noticed from watching Barca recently ZM, is that Messi is now the main striker, always. I know you have covered how he plays as a false nine regularly, but he rarely even drops off nowadays, it seems to be Villa’s job to do that, perhaps explaining his relative lack of goals this season.
Villa is reminding me of Henry’s job 08-09 (Treble year), he starts as a winger to stretch plays and cuts in whenever he is overlapped by the fullback (Abidal, Maxwell, Alves, whoever…).
I don’t mean to be offensive, but it seems like the Sevilla manager nor the players knew what they were doing on the pitch.
Want to beat Barcelona? Watch how previous teams have done well against them, adopt the team’s tactics, the players they use in positions, etc, it’s not hard; Sevilla could have avoided this trashing by having the right sided midfielder more narrower in midfield to create a midfield trio, when not in possession (as Juventus often do), to cancel out the +1 midfielder Barcelona have.
If the manager had watched the use of Chivu, Mathieu and Drenthe, he would have noticed that playing Diego Capel, a left winger more than a left midfielder or a left wing-back, would be a complete disaster. Alves exposed his poor positioning time, and time again. Sevilla were pinned back, they couldn’t pass the ball to anyone due to poor positioning of the players.
It’s great to watch Barcelona play and David Villa’s goal was sensational, take nothing away from them, but I am sick of seeing teams to play at the Camp Nou who have no idea, no tactical nous, no philosophy, on how to beat Barcelona. Sevilla were clueless. It was right that Barcelona destroyed them.
I agree! I definatley expected more of an effort from Sevilla. I thought their idea of soft pressure was intelligent, but their execution was horrid! Someone need to re-read the Guardian article on how to stop Barca.
As well, I really don’t believe Barca are changing their formation. It is virtually identical to what they have had before.
ZM
You wrote “also by SEVILLA when outplaying Barcelona in the first half earlier this month” but you meant Valencia of course (you mentioned Mathieu).
X
Obviously Capel was supposed to use the space afforded to him by Alves forward runs but he couldn’t. I didn’t see the game but this is typical of Sevilla. They almost always lose to Barcelona.
I didn’t understand the Sevilla subs – Zokora for Perotti (MF for MF) and took off Fabiano for Dabo (FW for DMF)whilst Kanoute was on a yellow, then later took Kanoute off for a 3rd choice striker. Two ‘like-for-like’s’, with no attempt to cover Alves’ runs.
I dunno, I just didn’t think that was going to change anything.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Zokora is a DM while Perotti is a winger, right? so, not really like-for-like in that instance.
Sorry, yes, you’re quite right.
The striker shuffle was the stranger thing. Overall, though, I wasn’t sure what the Sevilla manager was hoping to do with those subs.
aside from the notation of the system (4-3-3, 3-4-3, WW). In a pressing based system the positioning of the players is based on the specific situation. Pressing is terror, pressing is hunting for the ball. Your orientation point is always the ball and the opponent. In a deep defending system the main (not the only) reference point is your goal. From this it follows that the positioning has a different structure and the players have a different movement.
Barca is one extreme of the spectrum.
They use Alves the best way: he’s a right wing back, or even a wide midfielder.
of course this affects the rest of the team. the back line has to move to the right. and if Alves is so much of an attacking defender, why force him to run back all the time? Pressing with a fluid 3-4-3 / 4-3-3 system (depending on Busquets and Abidal) is a logic shape. the question is: How will Barca change when they play against strong teams? Real Madrid, or any big Champions League team will show us if the “3-men-defence” is a system for every opponent or if Guardiola will play more ’solid’.
Of course Alves would have no problem to play a more classic full back, but how would that affect the attacking style of Barca? And is it what Guardiola wants?
This is a nice video showing Barcelona’s intense pressing from the kickoff up until the 1st goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cw83M81Twg
That’s relentless – imagine playing against that for 90 minutes!
Re. the formation – you can call it what you want, but when you’ve got 11 intelligent, skillful players it’s almost pointless trying to label it because it’s so fluid. If there’s a gap somewhere the nearest guy will cover it, allowing the front players to basically play like a 5-a-sde team and go where they want.
The point is, you don’t need to play this way for 90 minutes
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Yes, press intensely in the opening stages, take the lead then relax and let your superior passing do zll the work. It worked great for Barca in 08-09 when they’d often be 3 goals up at half time.
I think ZM was spot on with his comment about Sevilla having no out-ball. Barca want to make the pitch as small as possible when attacking, by having everyone back to defend you’re simply boxing yourself in.
how do you mean they want to make the pitch as small as possible when attacking? don’t teams usually do the opposite?
Its unforgivable how much time Iniesta and Xavi were given to pick out passes. They simply have to be closed down using aggressive and physical holding midfielders, who also have the ability to chase and press them toward the halfway line. Speaking of which, Busquets is outstanding at winning the ball. Just a polished, classy holder.
i think messi’s increased central role and alves incredible (even for him) attacking intent are related. Because Alves was pretty much a permanent winger, Messi had to stay inside to create space for him. Messi, while not a tall and strong center forward, is an excellent finisher. It must be said that Alves’ positioning will only work if Xavi and company dominate the possession to an absurd degree like they usually do.
Not only are Barcelona the best team technically in the world, the intelligence of both Guardiola and the players at his disposal make Barcelona tactically the most interesting team in the world.
With Messi playing so far in-field in an almost withdrawn forward role behind Villa and Alves playing so high up the pitch, the formation resembled a lop-sided 3-4-3/3-3-1-3.
On the subject of Alves, I do not think that I have ever seen a better attacking full-back. Not only has he got phenomenal stamina and pace, he has the crossing ability of a top class wide layer and the vision of a number ten. In my opinion he is even better than Cafu or Roberto Carlos were.
The English media love to tell the world how good a full-back Ashley Cole is. However, whilst he is undoubtedly a top-class player, he has no where near the technical brilliance of Alves.
Roberto Carlos and Cafu were MUCH better than Alves. Maicon is better than Alves. I’d argue that Coentrão and Marcelo are better than Alves. Also, Alves does NOT possess anything extraordinary from a technical perspective. His crossing is not of a “top class wide player”. His vision is NOT of a number 10. He’s fast, he’s got stamina, he’s got basic dribbling. He’s nothing extraordinary. Remove his speed and you get a less than average right back.
But that’s like saying “remove Messi’s speed and you have a less than average attacker.” It doesn’t necessarily argue the point effectively. You’ll get no argument from me about your Maicon and Roberto Carlos assertions (and Cafu in his prime). But there’s a reason that the likes of Citeh and Chelsea are lining up for his services, and why we will probably pay more than we should to keep him.
Also, Alves might be the best right back in the world for the Barca system as envisioned by Guardiola.
I’d also say that he has more than basic dribbling, and he is an excellent crosser whose skills have gone to pot. He was much more accurate at Sevilla, but he also had the likes of Kanoute to turn his crosses into goals, rather than our midgets.
What?! Alves’ crossing and general creativity is outstanding for a wing back. How many wing backs consistently assist 10+ goals a season? Not to mention his incredible stamina, accomplished defending and huge tactical importance as a constant wide outlet on the right.
I don’t watch enough Barcelona football to claim whether Alves is better than Cole (like most of these arguments, there’s no “correct” answer). But I did notice a striking similarity between this match and Chelsea’s latest match against Blackburn Rovers. For much of the match, John Terry played left-back and Cole was set up almost like a striker. He was usually the recipient of a pass from Zhirkov or Malouda, so it ended up being an unbalanced 4-3-3 formation. The fact that Chelsea have 3 technically gifted left-footed players all on one side makes them incredibly dangerous.
Alves proved it more than enough that he is excellent with his technique and dribbling, from time to time cutting inside and rushing on opponent defenders just like Messi does. Not to mention his jaw dropping ball receiving. Don’t tell me he’s only about pace and stamina. His only problem is his crossing skills and there I have to agree with you.
everybody saw how maicon was torn apart by bale..roberto carlos was humiliated by messi in el classicos..atleast i have hardly seen alves been humiliated defensively..alves needs not to be a great crosser of the ball coz barca doesnot rely on headers to score goals..instead he is a great passer of the ball which is more important at barca
Thanks for posting that video, Carlton. It shows everything that I tried to capture in my match review, but ultimately failed.
You can’t play if you don’t have the ball. It’s as simple as that. I think that if Guardiola had anything embroidered on a doily, it would be “Offense is the new defense.” It makes so much sense, to play defense by keeping the ball, but you need an otherworldly set of midget tacticians and a French Greyhound (Abidal) to shutter the door when the plan goes wrong.
I’ve been contending all season that Villa can’t lead the line. That we play without a traditional striker makes the attack, when it’s working, all the more impressive. Much of that is because Pedro is finally starting to learn how to play as a marked man, rather than (last season’s) acres of open space. People know who he is now. That second yellow he drew on the Sevilla defender was pure ownership of an opponent.
I have to say that I love this site, and the comments, because rather than the usual “Boring passing the ball around” (and we do that from time to time, for sure), people understand that passing usually has a purpose. Sometimes it’s to take the air out of a match, other times it’s to move the defense around so that the attack can bull its way in. Nice to have such things acknowledged.
You’re welcome. Great site you have there, I’ve been looking for an English language Barcelona blog for a long time and think I may just have found what I’m looking for.
Slightly off-topic but it’s interesting to be reading various tactical analysis where one (or sometimes both) of the full-backs become practically match deciders… Bit of a trend perhaps?
what happened to Masherano??, is he injured or (more likely) suspended? What type of games does Guardiola see Masch playing when he is in the team. Is it possible to possess a “luxury” defensive mid who only plays against the top opposition in domestic and European games..???
Mascherano is fully fit – you can’t see him, because he is not first choice player at the moment. Busi rules the DM spot and nothing indicates that it will change. Recently, Mascherano was a substitute for Xavi, but as his problems seem to be gone now, I can’t see much place for Mascherano in Barça line-up, because there is always Iniesta and Keita
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Ok thanks for that,…..so why did they get him..???? Why would someone like Masch tolerate being on the bench? If i was Guardiola of course i would stick with Busquets as his style perfectly compliments the style of play which best suits Barca, but surely there are cheaper and younger alternatives to sit on the bench and learn the Barca way whilst playing the odd game when needed (Zucculini is an example), i think they went overboard with this transfer. Maybe it says more about the current state of Liverpool reather than the needs of the Barca midfield..?
I think Mascherano is an ASSURED option whenever he is needed. He is a fine player and can hold his ground pretty well and his distribution skill is something to take note of. I think [Mascherano] knew that he was going to spend a lot of time on the bench, so his decision to move to Barca was more personal than professional.
But i’d rather have him, than purchase an untested or less experienced player as our options.
he has to learn the barca system..in game against hercules he started between the two centre backs just as busquets always do but he failed miserably.in his last start he played very well in combination with busi..but he played a keita role and busi played in between the two centre halves..as soon as he learns to play in the system we will see more of him..
go Barcelona go. great post. love the vid
Since ZM started, this is the most lopsided Barca victory that has been covered. I think its an excellent analysis of how Barca can dominate games so thoroughly. Barca are the most tactically fascinating team of my lifetime, because they don’t play a specific formation, but use subtle variations of patterns designed to create space. For example, Alves’ extremely advanced role turns the opposition winger into a defender (as stated by ZM) but it also creates tons of space for Pique to occupy and create from. Likewise Messi occupying a vague space between defense and attack sometimes leaves him double or triple teamed (by drawing one center back and collapsing the holders), creating space for Xavi to shift the play toward Pedro or an onrushing left back. Then once the play turns around Messi can run into space. Every Barca player brings something to the table technically, tactically and physically, which is why their squad is so small. So few players have the quality (and the Mentality!!!) to play like this.