Barcelona 4-1 Atletico: Falcao’s opener wakes up Barca
The starting line-ups
Atletico started the match excellently, but still lost 4-1…
Tito Vilanova chose Alexis Sanchez rather than David Villa on the left of his attack, and Adriano started rather than Daniel Alves at right-back.
Despite the failure of the 4-4-2 at the Bernabeu, Diego Simeone again selected that system after Atletico’s 6-0 win over Deportivo last week. Miranda replaced Daniel Diaz at the back.
Atletico started the game very nicely, staying compact, pushing up and restricting the number of chances Barcelona created – but eventually crumbled.
4-4-2
There was a strong hint of the Celtic approach against Barcelona from Simeone. Diego Costa dropped off Falcao and tried to pick up Sergio Busquets, while the four midfielders played extremely narrow in the centre of the pitch, allowing Barcelona’s full-backs time on the ball, but trying to deny Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi space. They played very tight together, so if one of the central midfielders advanced up the pitch to close down (often Mario Suarez on Xavi Hernandez), the other three cut off the passing channels into the front three.
For the first half hour, the approach was extremely effective. Messi was barely noticeable and kept coming deeper than the Atletico midfield – which, considering Atletico were playing high up the pitch, meant he was often operating 40 yards from goal. Barcelona hadn’t managed a single attempt at goal by the time Atletico took the lead.
Busquets
It took a while for Barcelona to start varying their positioning effectively, shifting around to get away from Atletico’s pressure. The key was Sergio Busquets, whose positioning throughout the game was exemplary – always trying to get away from Costa. A couple of times he advanced higher up the pitch, allowing Xavi Hernandez to become the deeper midfielder, but more frequently he dropped into the backline to form a back three.
Busquets has frequently done that over the past few years – in fact, the first time Guardiola experimented with a back three was away at Atletico a couple of seasons ago, where Busquets played more as a centre-back than a central midfielder, allowing the full-backs to push higher up and stretch the play. It works excellently against a 4-4-2, and the more Busquets dropped deep and pushed Jordi Alba and Adriano on, the more Barcelona started to play good passing combinations in the final third.
Atletico lead
But first, Atletico had taken the lead. Falcao hit the post early on with perhaps a ‘classic Falcao’ – a header after good movement towards the near post. However, he then became more of a threat with his pace in behind, which is an underrated side of his game. From simple through-balls he had the beating of Barcelona’s back four – first firing wide of the far post, then chipping Victor Valdes for an excellent opener.
This changed Barcelona’s attitude. Until then, their possession play was impressive but lacked penetration – and although Atletico deserve credit for that, Barcelona were playing cautiously; with the situation in the league table, Barcelona had license to take it easy. They were playing ‘defensively’ – which, in Barcelona language, doesn’t involve sitting deep and parking the bus, but instead using possession to slow the tempo and keep the ball in the middle third.
Atletico essentially scored too early – Barcelona were suddenly more determined to get the ball into the final third and turned up the pressure. That said, the home side failed to create a clear-cut goalscoring opportunity in the first half – Adriano scored a thumping shot from distance, than Busquets calmly poked home following a corner. The first goal was almost unpreventable, the second involved dodgy defending at a set-piece. Simeone’s approach, at least in open play, was faultless.
Second half
But now Barcelona were in the ascendency, and Atletico’s shape became a little confused. Cata Diaz had to replace the injured Filipe Luis, forcing Juanfran to switch sides, which probably didn’t help the cohesion. Then, when Barcelona continued to dominate possession and Atletico struggled to win possession, Simeone introduced an extra attacker, Adrian Lopez, for Mario Suarez. Koke went into the middle, and Lopez went on the wing – but Messi scored a third almost immediately, and Simeone then made the reverse sub – Costa off, Tiago on, and pretty much back to the original shape.
At 3-1, with an hour gone, the game was over at a disappointingly early stage.
Conclusion
4-1 looks like a thrashing, yet the first goal was long-distance scorcher, the second was from a set-piece and the fourth from an inexplicable defensive mistake. There was much to admire about Atletico – their defensive shape was good, with the four central midfielders playing narrow and the side pushing up and combining a high line with pressure on the ball. Messi had his quietest game for a while – and yet scored twice, yet again.
Atletico also got the attacking part right – they played crosses into the box and exploited the high line, although they might have done more with set-pieces. In all, the approach was spot on – they were simply let down by individual errors and Barcelona’s usual brilliance. Playing a 4-4-1-1, with pace up top and a narrow midfield, has become a decent bet against Barcelona.
Mostly good review but you’re completely wrong about Costa/Busquets. Costa was middle man in 5-man-bank picking up WHOEVER came through the middle. Wasn’t assigned to Busquets in the least.
The 4-4-1-1 is particularly effective when you have a striker of the sheer quality of Falcao or Samaras leading the line.
Samaras? Sheer quality? Allow me to laugh.
Sorry doublepost
I love your analysis of the games…..perhaps the only one that I know of where games across the european leagues are dissected. I thank you for your analysis. It makes the layman understand the strategy that more often than not overrides individual acts in football.
Good review. Adriano and Busquets the key men in this game for me. Busquets is extremely strong in the challenge despite his skinny frame, his positioning was its customary top notch and he made sure barcelona weren’t bullied in midfield. He is for me the best CDM in world football. Outstanding strength, positioning, tackling, Vision, passing, composure. No other player in the world would of taken that touch before the 2nd goal, noone, ridiculous composure ice in the veins. As for Adriano he scored almost a carbon copy of this goal against Valencia with his right foot. Underated player who in my opinion is up there with the best.
Agreed with your opinions on both players. Especially Adriano, He hardly gets the credit he deserves, and probably has to be in the top 5 in terms of the most Versatile player in the modern game today. The guy can play anywhere on the park. Defence, Midfield and Attack. If somehow he keeps up this form, he should continue to see more playing time with the selecao ahead of the World Cup.
Adriano deserves a lot of credit for doing what the rest of the team refused to do up to that point in the match. Atletico did use the Celtic/Chelsea tactic and Barca continue to look like they are either too arrogant or to patient. They showed little urgency to shoot or to widen the play. Villa should have started instead of Alexis even if Alexis contributes more defensively. The difference with this season’s Barca team is that they are much more tenacious and Alba on the left is adding a lot as the absence of Alves is also a positive.
I think that except his defensive contribution, Alexis is also very effective in stretching the play (even more when playing with Alba who was more cautious then usual). MOM,IMO (together with Busi and Adriano and Iniesta)…
What amazes me about Adriano is his ability to play ANY position on the field (apart of GK)… and I mean ANY POSITION… brilliant purchase by Pep, even though it took a few injuries of other defenders for us to see his versatility.
Busi is my favorite player in the world today. it’s amazing how intelegent he is. Had an amazing game, even though the Atletico’s goal was his fault.
It was actually Messi’s fault. In a replay of the Chelsea give away he came deep to pick up the ball and lost it. Simple pass onto a runner and Barca conceded. He is an excellent player wherever he is on the pitch but his decision making when he drops back into the DM zone is at times suspect.
You really can’t expect Busquets to catch Falcao.
In the game with chelsea he received the ball right after he stood up after he had slipped and had some ankle problems, but yeah, the events were very similar.
In the game with chelsea he received the ball right after he stood up after he had slipped and had some ankle problems, but yeah, the events were very similar.
you can clearly see Busi going right in order to catch Falcao, a second later he’s changing direction and correcting himself in dropping back, but it’s too late now. If he would make a diagonal run/ dropped back immediately, he would’ve catch him. So it’s one bad decision from last man caused Falcao to be 1v1 with VV. You cannot blame an attacker for loosing a ball (anywhere on the pitch), if he was deep, the defense should have been deeper. Attackers have lower “conversion rate” then defence, meaning attacker can loose a ball as long as he converts “just a few times”, must be patient (3 goals out of 10 tries is great statistics.)Defenders must be accurate (3 clearances/tackles out of 10 tries is a terrible stat.)This is why defenders are usually older, because they have more responsibility. My point is conceded goal is almost always defense fault.
Although Alexis still needs to show his greater potential, I think he contributes more to the team than David. Perhaps, Tito wasn’t concern about scoring a goal (they were playing more cautiously) but he wanted to prevent from conceding one.
I only watched the second half, and most long balls were passed to Alexis to stretch the game and let everyone else catch up, it didn’t feel like much but it does help keep possession and move closer to the final third.
Also, he does have a bag of tricks and tend to run towards his defender; making them do pre-emptive tackles and win a foul. Tricky fella.
I got the impression Simeone’s approach was influenced by Celtic’s as well. It worked well in the first half (and they were unlucky to be behind), but thereafter Barcelona were rampant.
A few major differences with the Celtic win over Barcelona (which, a month on, is now even more astonishing given their respective league forms and the ease with which Barcelona are sweeping very good teams aside):
1. Midfield rotation. Song played at Parkhead. Whilst he got forward a bit, he isn’t as good at circulated the ball at Busquets. Celtic were exceptionally good in that game, but as a Celtic fan, I don’t think we’d have got as many chances (or Barca would have created so little) if Busquets hadn’t been suspended. His understanding with the rest of the midfielders, his defensive ability and his composure on the ball is simply well ahead of most other midfielders in the world.
2. Height at the back. Celtic scored twice in two games against Barcelona from set pieces. Mascherano and Bartra played at centre-back in both. Puyol and Pique are simply better players in the air. Athletico didn’t threaten as much from corners as they perhaps should have.
3. The atmosphere. Not quite relevant to this game, but playing at the Nou Camp is obviously a lot harder as the away team than being the home team playing at Parkhead on a European night. Sorry, not really a tactical point, but clearly significant in discussing the template for beating Vilanova’s Barcelona.
And, thinking about that, Celtic are still the only team to beat Vilanova’s Barcelona. I’m not counting the Supercup. That was a glorified friendly. And, in any case, Madrid (awful league form aside) are clearly much better than almost every other team in the world. Celtic’s (and, despite the different result, Athletico’s) approach is the way to go.
I don’t think Barcelona were particularly cautious in there passing. I mean technically, they always do the pass which results in maintaining possession, but so they can carry on the attack. Not for the sake of keeping possession.
I think they just know what they need to do to get at these kind of defenses. Athletico’s tactics reminded me of Mourinho’s tactics against Barca: Defend very compactly, aggressively, & wait in own half. The thing I liked about Barca here (although it’s generally always the case) is there heads never drop. I feared they might a bit after Falcao’s goal because it came as a result of Athletico’s gameplan. But Barcelona just know that at some point, they’ll start to chip away & pressure usually gets told. All right, there first came from an Adriano screamer & second from a corner.. but it’s not really a case of scoring beautifully & walking it into the net. It’s a case that constant pressure & possession tells in the end.
Busquets was amazing.
Quote of the Day : “Messi had his quietest game for a while – and yet scored twice, yet again.”
Can’t believe Sanchez starts over Villa,who has only scored once this season. Shame on you tito
It is such a shame to see Sanchez starts over Villa, who only scores once this season. Shame on you Tito. Hope Villa can find a club that deserves his service in January
The article states, “That said, the home side failed to create a clear-cut goalscoring opportunity in the first half – Adriano scored a thumping shot from distance, than Busquets calmly poked home following a corner. The first goal was almost unpreventable, the second involved dodgy defending at a set-piece. Simeone’s approach, at least in open play, was faultless.” This is obviously a correct analysis of the goals, however when all 11 men are sitting within your own half before pressing (even as ferocious as it was for the first 30 minutes) you are allowing Barcelona to get closer and closer to your goal, to dominate territory to an extent that a corner or a long distance strike will be effective. By ceding territory there are risks, it makes me remember a conversation a couple of years ago when Barcelona were getting a lot more penalties and danger range free kicks than they were conceding, when 70% of the game is spent in the opponents half and only about 7% in your third your more likely to get decisions.
As for Busquets, far and away the best defensive mid around, for me second name on the team sheet (behind Messi obviously), over the last few years when either Pique or Puyol have inevitably been injured the increased defensive frailty has been in having to play Busquets in defense; he isn’t there to shield the defense then, fluid passer and far and away the most effective breaker up of play.
“It’s a case that constant pressure & possession tells in the end.”
Exactly.
I think Barca’s (completely expected) failure to break down teams in the occasional game has created a myth that parking the bus is effective.
Of course more often then not – Barca win anyway
Probably the only way to beat 4-4-1-1 is to switch the flank as fast as possible.At least for the 1st goal Iniesta’s long ball to Adriano was a classic example of that.They could not prevented the pass as the midfield was too narrow.But still the finish was amazing.Nice article as usual.
Best league in the world by far.
What’s the difference a day makes? Simply Busquets.
“Messi had his quietest game for a while – and yet scored twice, yet again.”
for the other teams in Spain, that’s a terrifying statement.
Hi all,
Another great article by ZM. Although I agree on most counts, I would like to add one bit regarding the conclusion that in spite of 4-1 looking like a thrashing, it was a close call. Yes, it is true that Atletico had very good chances over the first 30 minutes. However, as you can claim that Barcelona’s goals were flukes (scorching shot, defensive corner error, defensive error in 88 min), so were Atletico’s chances. Falcao’s first shot wide was after a quickly taken free kick, and his goal was in a counter-attack after Messi lost the ball and Busquets was obviously and easily outpaced by Falcao. Other than that, their attack was rather impotent.
However, if you look at the game from a different angle, in fact for most of the 30 min, it was Barca that dominated the game, and in the second half, it was total Domination in every aspect. It was the typical tiki-taka football, brilliant keeping of the ball, awesome bringing the ball from the back, patient, and in the end deserving of the result.
While I agree that a 4-4-1-1 or 5-4-1 have become the “standard” defensive bet against Barca, matches are mostly decided by whether Barcelona can finish off their chances – they had plenty against Chelsea (both games) and Celtic.
Cheers.
I think Barca/Messi in this game could of scored a lot more, especially after their third goal, Messi scored 2 goals without even trying. How many goals does he have this year now, 90?
When I read your description of Atletico’s narrow midfield in the first half it reminded me that the Dutch commentator compared the formation to a swaying christmas tree, moving from one side of the pitch to the other.
Fitting for season I guess.
My point is that data is now freely available and there are now thousands of people doing chalkboard reviews of games which is a great thing as it can only raise the standard. In this game Atletico score first on 31 and academic research has shown that when the away team score first 0-35, Dixon and Robinson 1998, expectation of goals to the home side are accelerated. FT 4-1. It is a great time to be a football blogger as the OPTA data is freely available and analysis of formation adding shot on target data and time analysis can only enhance the reader interest. In effect there is nothing to stop the next generation of zonal marking bloggers from raising the bar.