Athletic 2-2 Barcelona: Bielsa stifles Barca by telling his players to stick tightly to opponents
The vague first half line-ups - though with Athletic tracking Barcelona all over and the Barcelona players trying to shake them off, positions were very loosely-defined
Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics managed to hold Barcelona to a draw in an exciting match at the San Mamés.
Bielsa went with a 4-3-3ish shape, with Javi Martinez at centre-back, and Iker Muniain out on the right – a slight surprise, given the winger has started on the left for much of the season.
Pep Guardiola picked a 4-3-3, but with a front three featuring a deep-lying forward, a central midfielder and a wing-back, as David Villa was left out.
This was a match that could have gone either way – Barcelona had four times as many attempts as Athletic, yet needed a last minute goal to snatch a draw.
Rain
It’s impossible to consider this match without mentioning the weather. Torrential rain in the north of Spain meant that the pitch was damp at the start, and almost unplayable in parts towards the end of the game. It clearly had an impact upon short passing, and this naturally hampered Barca more.
Tactics, though, is about adapting to particular circumstances. On a pitch that didn’t suit their natural game, it’s Barcelona could have been a little more direct. Their opening goal came from an unusual route – a cross and a header, although with a considerable difference in height between the sides, and no true striker on the pitch, it’s obvious why they didn’t want to suddenly become Stoke.
Atheltic, on the other hand, had the towering figure of Fernando Llorente, who could both challenge in the air, and hold the ball up. They also had a manager who is known for soaking the training pitch when rain is expected for the upcoming matchday. They would have been prepared.
Tracking
They were also very well prepared in tactical terms. Bielsa, the ultimate advocate of a pressing game, had a specific plan. He pressed Barcelona high up the pitch at goal-kicks and forced Victor Valdes to kick the ball long, which was a bit of a problem with none of the five most attacking Barca players more than 5′9. This broke up their rhythm from the back.
In open play, the pressing was slightly more reserved high up the pitch- Llorente worked very hard trying to close down the centre-backs, but was rarely joined by another midfielder in doing so, for Bielsa wanted to retain a spare man at the back.
That might seem a sudden jump in positioning – from talking about what was happening high up the pitch, to what was happening at the back. The reason for that was simple – in defence and in midfield, Bielsa asked his players to track their man all over the pitch. Because of the switching of Barcelona players, it wasn’t always the exact same battles throughout the game: Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas, for example, were frequently in each others’ roles, and there was also some rotation in midfield.
It was man-marking in action, most obvious by the way the centre-backs were happy to come a long way out of the back to track Messi or Fabregas, sometimes into the midfield zone. The full-backs would come infield, and on other occasions would find themselves in extremely wide positions, particularly Andoni Iraola getting tight to Adriano. There was always either Fernando Amorebieta or Martinez sweeping up at the back, usually covering a huge amount of space, and often a considerable distance behind the rest of the back four.
It’s to Athletic’s immense credit that they rarely needed last ditch tackles, though. Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were marked closely and had little impact upon the game, whilst Messi is much less involved when used in his old right-sided role. Against both Sevilla and Athletic, the use of him on that flank has not helped Barcelona.
Athletic’s wingers did a good job on the Barca full-backs. Eric Abidal looked scared of Munian and therefore played conservatively, whilst Markel Susaeta played deeper, tracking Dani Alves and also giving him the slip in the lead up to the opener. Athletic were more direct in possession, which suited the conditions.
Changes
Guardiola gradually brought on more attacking players as the game went on. On roughly 60, 70 and 80 minutes he brought on Alexis Sanchez for Xavi (forward for midfielder), David Villa for Adriano (striker for a wing-back playing in the forward line) and then finally Thiago Alcantara for Gerard Pique (midfielder for centre-back).
Crucially, and perhaps wrongly, Guardiola never looked to change Barca’s system significantly (with the exception of the final few minutes when he threw men forward) – players simply dropped back. Man-marking means that Athletic weren’t entirely bothered about being pulled out of shape, but Barca could have tested this more. What if they’d gone with four attackers, for example, like the system they used at the start of 2010? Bielsa would have wanted to retain his spare man, and would have had to bring on a substitute, or been forced to deploy someone completely out of position.
Another solution would have been to bring the defensive players forward into attack. Pique and Javier Mascherano had opportunities to move higher up the pitch with the ball and potentially open up Athletic – although Llorente did a good job in tracking them. Still, you’d expect more rotation from the best total footballing side around, with the two centre-backs both capable of playing in midfield, and Busquets able to drop back.
The two questions for Athletic were fitness and discipline. The former wasn’t a problem and the latter only came into the equation in the final minute, when Amorebieta got his second yellow. The resulting free-kick led to the goal – via a defensive error – so it could have been a factor in the result.
Conclusion
“We’ve never played against a team who were so intense, so aggressive, and has denied us so much space,” said Guardiola after the game. He and his players didn’t really know how to react or adapt to let their technical quality shine through; they simply aren’t used to facing a side like that.
Is this the blueprint for beating Barca? Well, no – first because Athletic didn’t win (and even if they hadn’t have conceded the Messi goal, their own second came from calamitous Barca defending and was something of a fluke).
More to the point, few other sides would be able to play this way as easily as Athletic did – because this is close to the usual style Bielsa wants, they were able to adapt. Others who try and replicate it might be ripped apart.
Athletic 2-2 Barcelona: Bielsa stifles Barca by telling his players to stick tightly to opponents
Credit to Athletic but as you mentioned the rain just made the pitch unplayable for most of the second half. No way Barca’s only plan, the tika-taka, would have worked today.
If you can’t play tiki-taka in the current conditions, than play a different way, trying some crosses and longballs. Every team needs a back-up plan, even Barca.
Longballs? Yeah, like Messi, Adriano, Iniesta, or Cesc would fare well with the likes of Javi Martinez, Amorebieta, Iturraspe, or Iraola.
Despite the rain, I thought Barca did pretty well with their passing game as they had several chances, at least better than Bilbao.
Barca pass completion in this game was 84%, compared to their average away of 89%.
Bilbao was 69% (average home 78%).
It’s not only about completion rate. When you see the curcumstances, you just abort many passing options you would normally execute, and decide to play simpler pass, eg. to the back.
No doubt Varfelona would be exposed as the most overrated bunch of diving cheates in the Premier league. Wet pitch excuses. Good defending excuses. Most EPL sides are much much better than Vilvao anyway… This site’s obsession with boring talentless tikka takka football is getting lame. Watch some real footy, not a glorified SPL league with such poor standards….
wtf.?
It was an interesting match. I agree with ZM about the high pressing from Atleti’s forwards which somewhat resulted in the first goal.
Don’t feed the troll.
Good attempt at trolling.
Those sour grapes must taste well!
Trolling is usually done by repressed people who have been beaten far too many times far too easily as a result of which they are emotionally scarred for life n their existence is only meaningful if they denounce reality. Poor souls! Barca should be held resoponsile
“Watch some real footy”
“lol”
I for one agree with you. Barfelona (you should try this one in your future troll statements. its funnier because its like barf) are overated and Bil-(GAY)-bow (feel free to use this one too) are very not good.
shut up stewie if your going to troll try not to be so obvious.
Zonal, you can talk about tactics and heavy pressing all you like, but the fact is that Athletic got away with TWENTY-SIX (26) FOULS in this game (and they’re the ones called). That is more than twice as many as sides usually commit against Barcelona. Nobody was sent off until the end because Athletic was very good at making fouls look like clumsiness due to the weather and, of course, playing at home. No wonder Athletic had the lungs to press the whole game when there were so many interruptions due to fouls. What is remarkable is that Barcelona got a draw.
Hm, that sounds like an interesting aspect. Considering it is usually Barcelona who foul more often than their opponents. Of course, in a much more clever way, fouling tactically and high up the pitch, rather than doing last ditches that scream for yellows or reds.
It was Piqué who played beside Mascherano as CB, not Puyol
oops thanks!
You’re so cute when you make mistakes
“There was always either Fernando Amorebieta or Martinez sweeping up at the back, usually covering a huge amount of space, and often a considerable distance behind the rest of the back four.”
I found this aspect to be very interesting. I can’t really think of any other time I’ve seen a team so blatantly completely disregard having anything resembling an offside line. This was some oldschool defending it felt like, I think… Not really old enough to have seen an actual sweeper in action but I imagine this is how it worked.
“I can’t really think of any other time I’ve seen a team so blatantly completely disregard having anything resembling an offside line.”
Haha, felt exactly the same. Although you must admit Barcelona hasn’t really exploited that. I couldn’t see anyone thrusting into that open space anticipating a pass.
“The two questions for Athletic were fitness and discipline. The former wasn’t a problem and the latter only came into the equation in the final minute, when Amorebieta got his second yellow. The resulting free-kick led to the goal – via a goalkeeping error – so it could have been a factor in the result.”
“Well, no – first because Athletic didn’t win (and even if they hadn’t have conceded the Messi goal, their own second came from calamitous Barca defending and was something of a fluke).”
Let’s not forget, the first Athletic goal came only after Mascherano slipped because of the surface. Not entirely attributable to a non-repeatable event–as Busquets shouldn’t have dropped so deep, his one error in an otherwise wonderful game–but Athletic’s goals only came after Barca mistakes that weren’t caused by Biesla’s tactics.
Which isn’t to say Biesla’s tactics weren’t exceptional. Because they were, and it was one of the best games I’ve watched all year–and although the rain dampened some of it, it added such a… le macabre to the game.
“but Athletic’s goals only came after Barca mistakes that weren’t caused by Biesla’s tactics.”
Of course the first goal was caused by the tactics. Barca spread all over the pitch and nevertheless Valdes wasn’t able to play a safe pass. He had to kick it, Athletic won the high ball and were able to counter through the space, Barca has opened. After all, it was a very dangerous situation before Mascheranos slip.
There was no danger before the Mascherano slip. Rewatch. To borrow a goalkeeper’s term, Mascherano ‘had that covered’.
There was a 3on3 (or 4on4 with the pair on the other flank) situation with hectars of space in the final third. That’s a dangerous situation.
Mistakes are what attacking teams generally look for, i.e. force the opponent to make mistakes.
@442, But the ball was in Barcelona’s hands/feet. Mascherano would have got it cleared like 1000 other times he does it, if not the flip.
@Afriq, there is a difference between forcing a mistake, and benefitting from a mistake
.
Just watched the goal for the first time. Valdes never should have tried to play that ball. He had two defenders better placed to take a short pass. The whole time that he has the ball Pique is wide open.
After the ball was won in the air, it was dangerous but not particularly. If he hadn’t slipped he likely would have reached the loose ball before the Athletic player.
And finally, I think it’s Xavi who barely moves towards the Barca end even after Mascherano slips. He should have been runnin back and could have covered the trailing player, who ended up with the ball at his feet and then scored.
Yeah, but also keep in mind that Barcelona´s first goal was a complete fluke seeing as Abidal didn´t even look before crossing and also seeing as how Amorebieta is taller and better in the air than Cesc. Also, set pieces arguably ARE part of Bielsa´s tactics so even though the second goal was lucky, it was a high probability that a Bilbao goal would come from a set-piece. And Barcelona´s second goal was also EXTREMLY lucky, seeing as there was no need for that clearance (and especially not a clearance that bad).
As a winger theres basically a red zone that you expect your team to occupy in case of a cross. abidal sent a perfect ball into it and it was no accident cesc was positioned at the top of that zone so that he could get to the cross.
But even disregarding that, luck is more likely to happen when you have 16(9) shots compared to 4(4).
watch again Abidal did look,great cross from the best LB in the world.
NO
In real time, I also thought the cross was hit blindly. It happened so fast that Abidal just seemed to be trying to make something positive out of a ball that was getting away from him, but the replay showed him getting his head up to look in the box, then back down to hit it. Amazing.
A nice game of water polo it was.
Again, we struggled against an extremely physical opponent. Yes, rain played a role in the match, they also scored one lucky goal, but again our performance was really bad and we couldn’t find an alternative route to score. I hope the team will improve in the next weeks.
Interesting the Guardiola conference, because a few days ago the Santos coach said, when asked of a possible strategy to beating Barcelona, that the only way was to really have a go at them, because Barça have dismantled all kinds of defensive schemes, to such extent that it is pointless to try and create a different one. And obviously, Barça are not used to have a team play them as equals (not even Madrid last season, although this one might be a different story).
How much of a Guardiola fan are you Michael?
In terms of philosophy/in-game tactics/demeanor etc
Great read as ever
Thanks
” it’s obvious why they didn’t want to suddenly become Stoke…”
… Or Bolton!
Or just about any other English team for that matter! Haha!
Ha – after Fabregas scored, the commentator said “That’s a English Premier League goal”.
In terms of team ’styles’, there are 7 EPL teams who favour ‘long passing’, 7 who prefer ’short passing’, with the other 6 mixing it up.
In La Liga the numbers are 8 long, 6 short, 6 mix.
Numbers from match data, per whoscored.com
Could you please extend your statement that there are more teams in La liga tat favour the long passing?
I went to the page you publish for the data and I see things differently:
Average Use of midfield:
EPL: 43%
Liga: 45% (44% without Barça)
Standard Deviation of Use of midfiled:
EPL: 2.89%
Liga: 3.12% (2.51% without Barça)
Teams under EPL Average Use of midfield:
EPL: 8 (Blackburn 36%, Liverpool 38%, Stoke 39%, Wolverhampton 39%, Aston Villa 41%, Norwich 41%, Everton 41%, Bolton 42%)
Liga: 5 (Granada 39%, Levante 40%, Valencia 42%, Gijon 42%, Santander 42%)
Teams above La Liga Average Use of midfield:
EPL: 3 (Manchester City 46%, Swansea 47%, Arsenal 47%)
Liga: 7 (Malaga 46%, Athletic Bilbao 46%, Espanyol 46%, Osasuna 46%, Betis 47%, Real Madrid 50%, Barcelona 53%)
If you ask me:
EPL:
Long passing: 8
Shot passing: 3
Mixed: 9
La Liga:
Long passing: 5
Shot passing: 7
Mixed: 8
I believe you are using the ‘action zones’ for your figures. I believe this simply refers to which part of the pitch sees the most action for the particular team, with the variables being own half, middle and opposition half. This is useful for which areas of a team are most active, but doesn’t reveal the prefered pass choice.
The playing styles I refer to are on each individual teams’ pages, and are derived from the teams’ match data based upon long, medium and short passes played (each over a pre defined distance, by Opta).
That data shows there are more teams playing a higher percentage of long balls in Spain than England.
@ Betweenthelinesfootball
One thing to keep in mind is that the distance of a pass is not necessarily an indicator of whether or not it’s really “long ball”, as that phrase has connotations of aimlessly smacking the ball up towards a tall dude, whereas a pass can travel a long way while still being part of a precision passing game.
I’ll concede that distance traveled by the ball remains one of the better proxies for statistically determining whether a team plays “long ball”, but I am not sure it’s entirely dispositive.
“whilst Messi is much less involved when used in his old right-sided role. Against both Sevilla and Athletic, the use of him on that flank has not helped Barcelona.”
I disagree on the Sevilla point. Messi started there in the center. Sevilla played a very tight four-man-midfield to isolate him from his teammates. Guardiola then moved him wide to get him in the game and this worked, Barca began to create chances.
Apart from that a good article!
“Another solution would have been to bring the defensive players forward into attack.”
I think that’s the main point here for Barca. When facing a man marking side you have to spread over the pitch, creating high distances between your players and then strictly play over your free man. When this man is attacked, another player gets free, so give him the ball. If you don’t have a free man anymore, your opponent is missing him too, so kick the ball forward and win the uncovered duell.
That’s the easy formula. Barcelona won’t fail to follow it a second time I guess.
That article makes me wish I had watched the match!
Brilliant match. I’m a fan of Bielsa and he definitely got his tactics right, but the rain simply ruined it for Barcelona. I know you need to adapt, but as we all know, Barca know one way to play and that’s there way. Long-balls is alien to them, and in my opinion, being more direct wouldn’t have been the right choice anyway considering there height. I just think they need to go for more shots outside the penalty area. There were a few chances today where they could have, but they’re looking for the Hollywood pass a bit too much sometimes.
Very good point about ‘the Hollywood pass’. Villa may not be in sparking form, but he’s not shy about trying to turn a half-chance into a goal, and the threat of him curling one into the upper 90 opens up space for ‘the Hollywood pass’ Barca is wont to do.
I got a question about barca. What is barcas best/default 11 and what shape
I am under the impression that it is the same as last season except fabregas replacing messi, and messi replacing pedro at right foward and villa(occasionaly sanchez) on the other flank
I was asking the same question. Undoubtly 4-3-3 will be their default formation but I have a strange feeling that Pep wants to accomodate 3-4-3 in their players.
Sanchez is extraordinary, i hope he finds his game soon to see him connect with messi and co.
I was also thinking the same at some point but I dont see Alves fitting in a 343. If he played in the frontline he would have to drop either sanchez villa or pedro which I doubt he would as that would mean losing creativity and clinical finishing up front.
In midfield Pep would prefer to have central midfielders in a diamond, they essentially pick themselves sergio,inesta,xavi and cesc.
And in the backline it would be a waste of his energy having him in a back three.
BUT without Alves it would be their default formation
I would love everyone to be fit when the classico comes around to see what pep had in mind when he brought in fabregas and sanchez. To find out if they just provide depth and better roation or will have an impact. the same goes for Real Madrid.
The big dilemma is playing fabregas. He plays best with messi as a false nine. But this needs wide players (villa, pedro). And this would mean dropping inesta, with xavi and busquets playing deep midfield roles.
OR
Play a 343, fitting iniesta in, but dropping alves. This would mean a big lack of width though, as pedro could give some width out wide right, but none of the other plays would be as comfortable playing that wide, with villa only play wide left so he can cut in/ making inside runs.
They are fluid, so shape is amorphous, but I would say that we’ll see them trend towards 4-3-3 in defence and 3-3-4 in attack, with asymetric shifting.
When defending Alves plays in the back line of 4 (against 1 or 3 striker systems) and Messi and Cesc will take it in turns to move wide and cover the left back. When in attack Alves will overlap, Messi will move central, and they will play with a sort of double false nine (or false nine with false ten as Tom Wolfe might say).
Something to note about this lineup is how just the names on paper makes one think it will be some sort of wing-back system, either 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. Perhaps this was a bit of gamesmanship on Pep’s behalf, trying to entice a tactical response from Bielsa. Or, perhaps he planned to switch between a 4 back and 3 back system to cause Bielsa problems, but the man-marking negates a lot of the advantage of changing shape.
Agreed, Messi and Cesc sharing playing as the false 9 or the right winger in defence, but both of them clearing the right flank for Alves to join the attack
About the match the inclusion of Adriano was strange, You would assume Pep wanted better protection that flank or even a 352 shape
I agree with most of what was said. However, the finishing for Barca was poor again. I recall a well worked free kick in which Dani Alves had a clear shot on goal, it went straight to the keeper. Iniesta missed a lob shot after a backpass from Athletic got caught in the soaked turf. He also smashed a left footer into the side net with that side wide open. Villa, after coming on, expertly controlled a Messi pass but didn’t do better with his finish. Athletic pressed and attacked very well but their goals came from a Mascherano slip and a Pique, Abidal, and Valdes blunder. It should be noted that the weather affected both teams. The back pass from Athletic that almost turned into a wonderful goal for Iniesta, as well as a fluffed shot by Munain after a great diagonal run. Hopefully those calling for Barca to play against Stoke on a wet night will watch this game. A team as physical as Stoke, with creativity and technique, playing on a soaked pitch, only managed to tie.
On another note I’m absolutely loving what Bielsa is doing with Athletic. La Liga isn’t as bad as people try to make it out to be.
Bielsa is football god!
Wonderful game of football. Bielsa is a excellent coach and so happy to see him do better at Bilbao.
Well, the goals were from defensive mistakes but that does not make them worth any less. The defensive mistakes were direct result of the pressing games played by both sides and I would imagine it is not that easy to be right 100% of time when pressured incessantly. E.g. second goals for Bilbao would not have happened if they had not pressed Masch to swipe the ball towards Valdes and Masch was in Bilbao’s half at that point.
Messi was his excellent self though marshaled extremely well by defense for large stretches in the match. Bilbao just had two/three players around Messi and Iniesta whenever they have the ball. Pressing so much throughout 90 is not easy but as Bielsa’s team do this as part of normal game, it was easier for them. I doubt any other team in Europe would be able to go at it for entire 90.
A just result for fantastic match.
This game showed quite well the difference between what would be a Cruijff style and what is the current Barcelona style … there was no width throughout large stretches of play … with everybody moving to the centre of the pitch high pressure defense Bilbao style becomes very easy, the key is to pull the field open and play with classic wingers. Also the limitations of the attacking full backs was painfully evident here and I’ve stated this here before just apply the right amount pressure and they break down.
The weather actually played right in to the hands of a winger style tactic where rushes down the line with a very late cross are a lot more difficult to defend, slippery surface resulting in a host of defensive fouls/mistakes (see Cesc goal.) Sure, one or two runs might also be affected but the net result would have benefited the attacking team playing very wide. Not only that but then Valdes could have played most of his clearances towards the boundaries around midfield instead of pumping them up the middle or playing them short, thus if the ball would have been lost it would not have been in such dangerous positions.
A little blunder tactically from the Barcelona side because they knew the conditions and the team they would face, if Bilbao had not played as expected then they could have adjusted the wide tactics accordingly …
The first Barca goal surely deserves more comment, they hardly scored any goals from deep crosses in the last 3 years but in recent games they have scored three, the first two provided by Cuenca and todays by Adriano. Is it possible that Guardiola has been taking inspiration from Bielsa, whose team score a few games in this manner earlier in the season?
The trend over the last 3 years after all is for Barcelona to become increasingly direct, always looking to play the ball forward with one touch, their excellent ball keeping skills when under pressure disguises this fact.
What a great match it was. I thought the draw was more a just result for Bilbao than to Barca. Inspite of all the excuses, Barca did manage to create many chances only show how different a team they are.
Rain played as a big part though.I would love to know how this match would have ended, without that rain, especially the secnond half rain. I say this with all my respects to Bielsa.
I hope Valencia, Sevilla and At.Bilbao, all will show the same intensity against Real Madrid too. La Liga is going to be terrific then.
Lack of clinical finish in games where Barca has a problems could be crucial in the battle of a title. Iniesta should score and rain didn’t stop but even helped him. And it’s quite bizzare why they didn’t (especially Messi) try to shoot from a distance. With so wet ball goalkeepers had lot of problems to catch it even in clear situation. Another poor performance by Pique. When Sanchez is fit now, Adriano will back to the left defence and Abidal into middle. Pique on the bench.
Athletic – I thought there defense was excellent, tracking barca’s forwards across the pitch and was the best way to defend against barca whilst keeping an attacking threat. In particular Amorebieta was excellent, very intelligent with his positioning, until unluckily being sent off.
Iturraspe was poor though in deep midfield, he should have helped the defense more with dealing with fabregas/messi but he didnt play deep enough. He was also poor in possession, giving the ball away far too much. de marcos and ander pressed xavi and iniesta really well, giving them no space or time, which meant they couldnt create chances from midfield as much as they usually do. Ander in particular got forward really well too (grabbing himself a goal) and was a threat from midfield. This is a clear weakness from barca, in that xavi and iniesta rarely track midfield runners (usually because the other team doesnt have enough possession to get runners from midfield).
The front three were fantastic, Susaeta and Munian dominated the barca fullbacks, coming inside then going out wide, they were a constant threat (shame they didnt score) and both look very talented. This helped athletic as they always had an outball with the wingers or with llorente, so barca’s pressing couldnt contain them. Llorente was fantastic, dominating the barca CB’s, winning everything in the air, and able to hold up the ball extremely well (allowing midfield runners).
Overall, I couldnt think of a better team to play barca, with so many outballs, great pressing all over the team, and a danger through the middle (Llorente + midfield runners) or out wide (pace and skill of munian and susaeta).
Barcelona – Valdez had a difficult game, his sweeping game was disrupted by the rain (as balls became faster than normal) and he started making mistakes (at fault for athletic goal). Pique had a bad game today, losing out to llorente in most battles and making bad decisions (still seems like he misses puyol). Mascherano had a good game I thought (unlucky with the slip), and organised the defense well (very much needed). Im sure barca would have conceded more goals in this game without him. His pace was also very useful with dealing with the wingers when they came inside. I think abidal should have played at CB today, he would have dealt better with llorente than pique did (out of form right now) and then adriano could have played LB, and tested if munian would have tracked back. If he didnt then abidal could have moved out to deal with him and barca would have an extra man in attack. If he did then it would have pushed athletic biggest weapon deeper.
Alves pushed forward well, pushing susaeta deeper, but he switched off when barca lost the ball letting susaeta drive forward un-marked. He also didnt give enough width to barca’s attack, something they need alves to provide, so messi can come inside. This season it seems alves has become lazier, or not motivated, which makes sense as he has already won every trophy he can with barca, so the hunger might not be as great. OR teams are learning to deal with him better. Most likely a combination of the two.
Busquets played well defensively, dropping deep into the hole, so that athletic wouldnt find it easy coming inside. But this wasnt such a big tactic today for athletic, as they were happy to go out wide and cross in for llorente, knowing he would win most balls in the penalty area. So busquets should have dropped into the defense more to help deal with llorente when athletic had the ball. In posession Busquets was excellent as allways, keeping the ball with small simple balls. But as the player with most space (xavi and iniesta were being pressed) i feel he should have played more adventurous balls to try and help barca create chances.
Xavi and iniesta were pressed extremely well, so couldnt really get a grip on the game. They both still kept possession as allways, but could really play meaningful ball forward. Iniesta at least got into good positions attacking wise, almost getting himself a goal (should have scored) but created little for his teammates. Xavi couldnt creat much either, and was caught out defensively as he didnt track midfield runners (ander goal). Xavi and inestas pressing was also wasted and Athletic played long balls to there forwards.
The front three didnt work for me, they missed having a focal point in attack, which they have when messi plays in the centre. Fabregas plays better when he plays off a false nine, but with messi coming inside from outide and fabregas having to lead the line at times, it didnt suit his game (despite grabbing a goal). He did create chances when he got on the ball, and he held the ball up realtively well, but hes not used to be the furthest man foward and his lack of height meant no plan B for barca. Messi is not as good when play playing a narrow right wing position. He comes inside a lot, and this needs alves to get forward more, which alves hasnt had to do for a while now with messi playing centrally last couple of seasons. He is still a threat, and he made some great runs with and without the ball, but he cant control the game liek can when hes palying through the centre. Adriano on the left was a poor decison, he didnt contribute anything to the attack, he was too predictable, wanting to go outwide, when barca had no target for crosses. Villa should have played, as he would have given barca a goalscoring threat which they really needed. They didnt actually play any strikers today, which shows there lack of bite.
Overall, Barca dominated possession, but that wasnt important, as athletic played direct football, so didnt need a lot of time on the ball. Pique was poor, they lacked width from fullback, the fullbacks were dominated, they lacked creativity from midfield, players switched off for goals (alves, xavi) and finally they lacked a goalscoring threat in attack apart from messi and he hasnt been at his best this season yet.
you make the fundamental mistake that crosses from out wide need a specific target … by which you could mean a targetman like Llorente, big, strong, able to head etc. or you could mean a constant striker or man up front … in reality there were 4 targets for crosses … the central midfielders in a wide style are asked to come up and support their strikers/central forwards with runs … as a winger you then never really need to lob in a high cross onto some head of a team mate but if you give a ankle to knee high cross in between the goalie and defender you create havoc … plenty of own goals come from these types of crosses … also if the attacking player gets in front of the defender they can try to tap it in … the problem is there aren’t that many decent wingers out there that can pass a guy and get a cross in (speed is not essential but helpful) and to add a touch more danger of every 5 or so runs he has, he has to cut inside at least once around the corner of the penalty area or later and unleash a quick shot. Most wingers become selfish players after some years in the spotlight but if they refrain from that they are perfect for breaking down high pressure teams … tall (head) strong players like Llorente just make a winger’s job easier and make them look even more effective but they aren’t necessarily needed. Ajax is a good example of a team with two deadly wingers and a normal sized striker. Also, what should be avoided is to play left-footed players on the right and vice versa, they always, always cut inside … sure switch the wingers for 5-10 minutes per half if needed but really avoid this if possible, doesn’t help much and the defender can get confidence back …
I don’t think Adriano was ineffective because he didn’t have a target, he was ineffective because he’s just not that good a player, especially at that position. Barcelona just don’t really have wingers in their squad … Pedro always cuts in, Sanchez is alright and Villa is good if he can just hit the backline more and then cross but he doesn’t have the greatest skill at jimmying by a defender (though he is decent at times.) Also Affelay is not the solution when fit because he cuts in too much too.
They dont all the time, and sure midfield runners can cause havoc with late runs onto crosses. But for a tactic of crosses to work consistently, i do think you need a striker who is good in the air. Low crosses are all well and good, but dont usually work against teams who drop back and defend deep (not the case today, but the standard against barca). This is probably why Barca dont work too much on crosses, as they play messi or fab as the (false)striker, plus there midfield runners are not great in the air either (Lampard would be perfect for your example).
Barca’s main tactic is rather to play messi or fabregas as a false nine and drag defenders out of position, leaving gaps for there wide players to make runs into the penalty area (Extremely effective tactic) which there midfield players pass into (great passers + false nine that is dangerous if left free + lethal wide players intelligent with there runs) = (xavi/iniesta + messi + villa). This is why teams play wide players on the wrong side, because they find it easier to finish with whole goal open to them.
I think a good use of your tactic for barca, is to get there fullbacks forward, this overloads outwide, with the wide players dragging the opposition fullbacks inside, then barca’s fulbacks are free to cross low balls in, where the wide players, plus striker plus CM’s can run onto.
Adriano is perfect as a attacking fullback for Barca, he is great at crossing, is pacy, and had great stamina, plus he can press well (not great at defending though, but if abidal was at CB he could cover). But as a winger, he usually is in the position where he can cross, but no1 is in the box, so is pointless (was lucky with fab goal, as slack marking by athletic) plus he cant cut inside well, and isnt a great player in possession of the ball.
my whole idea for using wide players was against teams that press … Barcelona have proven that their system works vs teams that sit back so I wouldn’t change a thing … again, against hard high pressing teams like Bilbao you need to keep the field wide and the only way to do this is with real wingers and not with overlapping fullbacks (as they drag their marker with them!) and I also think that against a dynamic team like Bilbao a lone static striker to nod in the crosses wouldn’t work as well, you need midfielders running in … poor defending or not the Cesc goal is a half decent indication of how it could be done, he’s not stellar in the air but does a great job of beating his marker and getting on the end of that cross and he came into the cross with a little run which gave his header all that more power. A static striker is how you kinda play 4-3-3 in the old Dutch style when playing a team that defends deep in their own half … again, this was not the tactic that Bilbao went for … it’s not how Barcelona play against other teams, it’s how they should have played against this unique team thus a tactical blunder because they knew the team they were up against and they knew the pitch conditions well in advance.
As for wingers dragging the defenders inwards … this is the big fault of many teams who say they play with wingers (and overlapping full backs) because the whole idea is not to crowd the center too much and to keep the game wide if you are playing Dutch style 4-3-3 (AZ currently and Ajax) or 4-2-4 (Co Adriannse at Twente) … the winger on the other side of play must stay wide too with a midfielder running to the post that the central forward or other running midfielder is not going to …
You’re exactly right, direct attacking with low crosses is the prescribed tactic for Barcelona in these situations. The combination of Barcelona’s quick feet and the poor (water-logged) field would have resulted in ample goal scoring opportunities. Barca’s second goal is a straightforward example.
Unfortunately, Barca kept trying to make it pretty, and although beautiful football is the only reason many of us enjoy Barca, there are times when you just can’t pull it off, such as during a rainstorm! Sometimes you have to play ‘ugly’ football to open up the space to play beautiful football. In this case, Barca should have gone for the direct attack, which would have disrupted Bilbao’s tactics and given Barca more space. Then they could have gone back to the pretty tiki taka.
And yes, they do have the wingers to do it, if they wanted.
Abidal made the cross for Cesc’s goal, not Adriano, although Adriano has provided assists with his crosses this season (Super Cup to Messi, for example).
I think Pep got his starting line up wrong today.
You can’t really justify not playing someone who looks to run in behind the defense when you know that the opponent will be pressing you high up the pitch.
Any of Villa, Pedro or Sanchez would’ve made a world of difference.
Pedro was injured. Plus Sanchez was returning from injury and apparently Villa had a slight knock, which explains why both weren’t used as starters.
Just managed to catch Sky’s extended highlights of the game, having got home last night just as the game finished.
Interesting to see how, at times, in defensive action, Bilbao looked like a 3-4-3 variation, similar to Chile under Bielsa. No doubt they are regularly drilled in 3 at the back, having played that way a couple of times this season. This flexibility could be key to beating (even though they only drew!) Barca.
Also, very high number of fouls made by Bilbao, nearly 3 times the number they made in their last home game against Atletic Madrid, to disrupt the Barca rhythm.
After watching the match for the second time, I became convinced that the midfields were matched against each other, because in my mind, Bielsa’s plan was to not allow Barca’s attacking players to turn and run with the ball. Bilbao’s 4-2-3-1 (rather than 4-3-3) lent itself naturally to man-marking, which was more of a goal rather than retaining a spare man in front of the defence.
In further details, out of all midfielders, De Marcos stuck to Busquets the most, as they tried to cut off Barca’s attacks at the source. Herrera dealt with Xavi by forcing him to go backwards, and Itturaspe got goalside of Iniesta. Susaeta played high and wide to get into direct confrontation with Alves, while Muniaín was allowed to begin his movement a little deeper and narrower, forming a ‘band’ with De Marcos, because obviously Abidal is far less of an attacking threat than the Brazilian.
At the other end, it was interesting to see how Javi Martínez was nominally deployed as a centre-back, but performing his role more like a defensive midfielder would, pressuring and running with the man in his zone rather than holding his position in the defensive line and letting the opposition come to him. He was complemented by Amorebieta who sweeped up behind him.
Barca played left to right, meaning that they played more short passes to the left, leaving space on the right and while Abidal rarely ventured forward, they compensated this by playing an unbalanced 4-3-3 formation. The surprise was in the front three, as seemingly they played a fluid central front two of Messi (left) and Fabregas (right), who would interchange with each other, both regularly switching sides and dropping into midfield to pick up the ball. Bielsa foresaw this, that is why Javi Martínez was the right centre-back, to follow Messi, and he did this much more often than he would have if Messi had played inside-right.
The most important point of the match to me though was Adriano’s role. He most likely was instructed to play left winger in attack, but only twice had an impact, once after a wonderful double exchange with Messi shooting straight at Iraizoz, then a little later cutting inside and shooting just wide from distance. Other than that, he simply disappeared when his side was in possession, nowhere to be found on the screen. He was disciplined when defending, often dropping into the backline when Iraola stormed forward, but contributing nothing to attacks, it was a surprise he lasted 72 minutes (even though Villa picked up a minor injury during the warm-ups according to Sport1).
Having no right-sided width, Barca was forced to go through Bilbao’s defensively more talented side which contained a World Cup winner, a Spanish and uniquely for Bilbao, a Venezuelan international. This left the left-back Aurtenetxe free, even though he is a converted winger, thus less reliable defensively, and with just 10 career Primera División appearances, was by far the least experienced player on the pitch. Helped out by Susaeta, he was rarely troubled until Villa and Sánchez came on, then almost immediately gave up a goal after having been overloaded by those two (which chance was blasted into the side netting by Iniesta).
Lessons to be learnt for Guardiola: just like Brazil and Argentina at the Copa América, you can’t afford to attack only on one side of the pitch, you need to make the as large as possible when in possession if you are the favourite. Swapping Fabregas and Iniesta and spreading out the front three would have solved this. Cesc would have provided a more dynamic attacking presence in the centre of midfield than Andrés, and he could have continued his partnership with Messi attacking from deep. Iniesta and Adriano are some of the most versatile players around, they have played the outside forward role a number of times. For me, Iniesta would have played on the right to make Aurtenetxe look silly with his dribbles, and Sánchez would have started on the left to push Iraola backwards. Villa could have been substitued on for him in the second half if Pep hadn’t wanted him to play the full 90 minutes.
Lessons to be learnt for Bielsa: You cannot afford to lose a single challenge or miss a clearance inside your own box against Barcelona, or that’ll mean a goal condeded and point(s) lost. Other than that, Bilbao’s performance was fundamentally perfect, even if it was ‘only’ a 9,5/10 execution.
Sorry ZM for ‘rewriting’ your article on your blog, but I saw the match slightly differently than you, and I couldn’t have explained it much shorter. Great job, and looking forward to your next article!
credit to Bielsa. Barca have almost created a new paradigm. to challenge them you can’t use orthodox methods. you have to think outside the box. i’ve advocated on here before the use of a sweeper system, freeing the centre backs up to mark tighter, and thereby track ppl into deeper positions. think of Rehhagels stuff from 2004 .
Interesting match.. I don’t understand why was Adriano playing instead of Villa or Pedro ?
I read somewhere that someone told to play a sweeper behind 3 CBs against Barcelona to nullify their threat of beating the defensive line.. This game looked like that for the most part with the CBs tracking the forwards all the way without worrying about losing the position. In that way you can also nullify the false 9 trap played by Messi sometimes.. Don’t know if anyone will try this tactics from now on..
Coming to Bilbao, they once again showed that you need pace in the wings and good set piece tactics to beat barcelona (although the second goal was lucky, they were threatening from corners before as well). Barcelona’s full backs are the weakest link and if you have pacy wingers who can beat them and supply crosses or cutting in (not like Ronaldo), you have a good chance to score against them.. Their pressing was impressive and Llorente was excellent up front even being a lone man most of the time, his holding up and pressuring of the CBs was great..
You always wonder what if Biesla coaches a team that has good quality in the final third.. Chile looked matching Spain in the WC and Bilbao matched Barcelona tactics wise. But it the final third which lets him down in terms of scoring..
I’d just like to say that Adriano isn’t a wing-back. He began to play as a right-back and then as a left-back in his 3rd season at Sevilla, and only sporadically. His natural position is attacking midfilder.
I’d say his main use for Barca is as a wing-back, though
and i would say that barcelona should buy a young, promising left back to replace maxwell and rest abidal
AND
adriano should never play again as a wide forward and return to the role he can adapt: alvez sub an LB sub occasionally
343 is Pep’s dream.
With past 3 years success, he finally has the luxury to try his ideal formation.Sanchez and Cesc are broght here for this.
There will be some troubles.But let’s see what is going to be
So Bielsa’s tactics were the opposite of zonal marking? I can’t wait to see Bilbao’s WM vs. Osasuna!
According to Soccernet, Barca had about 16 shots with 9 on target. When watching the game I counted 5 tremendous opportunities for Barca to score. The first was when Adriano was clear in the box after a 1-2 with Messi. The shot was fluffed. The second was from Dani after a well worked free kick. He kicked it straight to the keeper. The third was weather related as an Athletic back pass was held up by the pitch. Iniesta tried to lob it over the keeper but didn’t hit it hard enough. The 4th and 5th, I’m not sure which came first, Iniesta had a wide open net and missed, while Villa kicked it right at the keeper from a Messi chip. There was also another instance where the ball was in the back of the net but Messi was ruled offside. Cesc had played the pass too late.
Even though, Bielsa pressured and attacked Barca with amazing intensity, Barca still managed 5 tremendous scoring opportunities. This has been the theme so far for Barca. They’ve been able to create numerous chances, but the finishing has been poor.
It seems like liga teams start to counter Barcelona game plan. Four draws so far for champion. Let’s see how Barcelona keep going.
Real Madrid actually put better fight too.
Madrid may have put up a better fight than the past few seasons, but the most recent confrontation, the Super Cup, yet again saw Barcelona as the victors
Where is the analysis of Mourinho’s Real this year?????
Bielsa ditched the 3 back set-up in league play already. At least for this match.
Pep adopted the 3 back. Very interesting.
I also wonder how much having a big target center forward like Llorente has influenced Bielsa.
and i was called crazy when i said you have to man marked Barca. if you have a fit, discipline, and decent skilled team, that’s the way to play Barca.
Come on… Barca was the better team although the pitch made their usual style less effective.
Sometimes a team can grab a point against Barca by pressuring early. Some teams get a point by parking the bus and now Bilbao earned their point with a lot of manmarking.
But this does not mean that manmarking gives a team the best chance to grab some points against Barcelona. It just shows that Barca is not yet performing on their top level.
Agree. As I’ve said above, the Ref let Bilbao commit 26 fouls before he sent someone off (and he let a lot of others go because of the conditions). Don’t think man-marking will be such a good idea in circumstances where Barcelona can let the ball do all the work (as they usually do).
Nice tactical analysis..Definitely agree that rain made tiki-taka didn’t work but c’mon,this is football,nothing last forever..There will be the time when their enemies have the anti-tiki-taka..That makes football interesting though..
Ok, I will ask again much shorter: Why do you have Bilbao in a 4-3-3, when your main point was their man-marking, ZM? If that would have been the case, Busquets would have had all day to play a pass, and he hadn’t.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see the game – it sounds like it was a cracker!
Great analysis ZM!
just wondering if anyone could tell me when the last time barcelona lost the possession battle
Pre-Guardiola, according to Opta!
Dear ZM
That article was great as usual. Please consider this a polite request for more posts. Love your work, feel sad when there’s nothing new. I know no games are being played – perfect time for trend pieces, team evaluations, more in-depth stuff, etc. Of course we all are aware that you have a lot of balls in the air, so no worries if not possible, but thought the request couldn’t hurt.
Also, as a side note, something to add to your links perhaps: http://www.spanishfootball.info/
note that this is not my site, I just stumbled across it.
Sorry, busy week – lots to come over next few days