3 Things We Learned: Manchester City vs FC Barcelona
Barcelona were comprehensively beaten by a stunning performance from the Citizens.
Manchester City Brilliance
The previous match between the two can be seen as a test, and this performance was the end product. City were utterly rampant in the second half. They harassed, bullied and picked apart Barcelona at ease. It wasn’t a case of them taking their chances either because there was multiple times when they were inches away from scoring and Kevin De Bruyne hit the post. Speaking of the Belgian, the major difference between the two games was his creative brilliance. His tactical flexibility of being able to press high and cut off the passing lanes as well as be direct in the counter-attacks made City dangerous whenever they got the ball. On top of this, there was also his set piece ability from which he scored and created many chances.
In the last game, De Bruyne was leading the pressing, and wasn’t able to connect with the rest of the attacking players which limited his effectiveness. Whereas, in this match, Sergio Agüero did all the selfless pressing while De Bruyne occupied a central attacking midfield role which allowed him to cut through the Barca defence using his precise through balls. Initially he was on the left-wing, but Pep Guardiola switched him and David Silva around in the first half which near enough brought instant rewards.
Barcelona Issues
More from Analysis
- FC Barcelona vs Betis Player Ratings
- How can Xavi unlock Joao Felix for FC Barcelona?
- Where does Joao Cancelo fit for FC Barcelona?
- Three takeaways from Barcelona’s 4-3 win at Villarreal
- Barcelona vs Cádiz Player Ratings from a 2-0 win
The Catalans were great for the first forty minutes, but then they collapsed and never really recovered. This is worryingly starting to become a recurring theme when they are missing key players. The matches against Celta Vigo and Valencia are major examples of this. It seems the case in these matches, including the Man City game, that confidence was key to Barcelona playing well. Therefore a period of intense pressure from the opposition in these matches led to chaotic play from the Catalans.
The lack of Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué in this specific match was important because they missed the ball retention ability of Iniesta, and the calming presence on the ball of Piqué. The solution is keep playing Samuel Umtiti and other young players such as André Gomes in order to give them the confidence to deal with these situations by increasing their experience because there is no questioning their talent. These players were bought with the intention of replacing some of the ageing squad members, so they need to start stepping up.
Sergi Roberto
Roberto really struggled during this match, and was directly at fault for the first goal. His square pass across the defence was easily intercepted by Agüero, who promptly passed the ball to Raheem Sterling, and he then slotted the ball across to İlkay Gündoğan at the far post. His lack of experience in this role showed. However, his great performances so far this season have overshadowed how much of a change it is for him. What makes it even harder is that he has to ‘fill the shoes’ of Dani Alves who is one of the best right backs in the world. Patience will be key with him because performances like this are gonna happen until he is fully accustomed with the role. The quality of the opposition also meant he was more likely to shown up. There was also no Piqué to help bail him out in difficult situations.
Roberto shouldn’t be treated too harshly, though, because the all-round performance of Barça was poor. However, he needs to learn from his mistakes such as doing square balls across the backline. The next match isn’t any easier either with Jorge Sampaoli’s Sevilla awaiting them.