3 Things We Learned: FC Barcelona vs Manchester City
Barcelona managed to put four goals past Manchester City even though they were pretty average.
The Mercurial Magician
The Argentinian maestro, Lionel Messi, bagged his 7th Champions League hat-trick as well as an assist. He reacted to the Manchester City mistakes with his first goal being a great example of this, where others were static Messi was quick and efficient. However, Messi certainly wasn’t at his best and was on the periphery for the majority of the first half and some of the second.
Yet the scary point for other teams is that Barça and Messi don’t have to be at their best to pull apart quality teams. Playing them at their lethal and creative best is a scary thought for any team. Back to Messi though, his ridiculously high standards mean that we can expect more from him, but for any other player this would have been an amazing performance. Either way, this reminds us of how lucky we are to be watching arguably the greatest player ever and definitely the greatest player of his generation at the peak of his powers.
Defensive Issues
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The defensive problems continue to persist for Barcelona even though they managed to keep a clean sheet. The injuries to Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique certainly didn’t help, and their absence from the team will be felt in the upcoming matches due to their experience. The issue isn’t really individual errors like Manchester City were doing in the game. It’s more of a collective problem because City were able to cut through them with ease at times. There was also the problem of getting the ball to the front three in the face of an aggressive press. The inability to link up with the attack allowed City to control the game until the Claudio Bravo sending off.
I did read an interesting article recently that seems to provide reasons for why Barcelona are looking weak defensively as well as why stifling the defense is key to limiting Barça’s attack. Basically, the article argues that after Xavi’s departure, Luis Enrique has focused on controlling the game deeper down the pitch. The shift in style means the defense do the majority of the passing while the midfielders have more creative licence. This is riskier because there is less protection when the ball is lost due to the proximity to the goal. However, the benefit is that there is a lot more space on the pitch for the creative players due to the opposition having to press the ball higher up the pitch.
Therefore this provides an explanation for why Barcelona have started to leak more goals in the long-term. They did play this style last year though, so it doesn’t quite explain the severe difference in goals conceded between the two seasons so far. It does explain why Pep’s plan was so effective though. Having the extra midfielder (Kevin De Bruyne) allowed City to shut down the passing angles which severely limited Barça’s forward passing. This often led to the defenders and Marc-André Ter Stegen attempting long balls which mostly failed. Therefore giving possession back to Man City which allowed them to dictate the tempo of the game. It was a brilliant game plan, but it ultimately failed due to Barcelona efficiency and individual mistakes from City players.
Big Game Experience
The point on individual mistakes takes me into my next theme: the big game experience of Barcelona players. The Citizens were lacking this, and it showed because they kept making individual mistakes in key areas. Fernandinho slipped and the defence was too static for the first goal. They gave the ball away in their own half for the second and third goals. Granted the fourth goal was individual brilliance from Neymar, but regardless the goals show the importance of not making mistakes. Barça played average compared to their usual standards, but the experience in the team allowed them to pull through and win. They took their chances and capitalized on any luck or decisions that benefited them. This is something Manchester City need to do if they want to be anywhere near as good as the mighty Catalans.