3 Things We Learned: Granada CF vs FC Barcelona
Barcelona cruised to a 4-1 win over Granada without the suspended Lionel Messi.
Luis Suárez
The Uruguayan striker had an excellent all-round performance. His sheer determination to score led to the first half being a duel between him and the Granada goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Suárez finally scored near the end of the half with a sumptuous chip from a Jordi Alba long ball after having multiple shots saved by the Mexican goalkeeper.
He was instrumental in getting the positive result for Barça because Neymar wasn’t near his usual high standards. His sheer work-rate and tenacity was vital in creating chances around the opposition box. It was important that someone stepped up in the absence of Messi due to the amount of influence that the Argentinian has in the team. That Suárez did because he assisted Paco Alcácer and inadvertently set-up Ivan Rakitić for their goals as well as scoring himself. This match may have been against poor opposition, but it clearly showed why the Uruguayan is rated so highly.
Paco Alcácer
Alcácer showed the strength of Barcelona’s squad depth. He replaced Rafinha early on in the match due to the Brazilian picking up a meniscus injury. The Spanish striker finally showed some of the quality that we all know he possesses. He was playing out of position, but that seemed to have little effect on him.
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He found Suárez in the box in the first half with a nice pass, and the Uruguayan was unlucky not to score. In the second half, he scored the crucial goal which pulled Barcelona back ahead. This allowed to them to relax and take more risks with possession, which benefited them significantly. His goal was a nice, composed finish after Suárez had put him in a 1v1 situation with Ochoa. To top it off, he assisted Neymar for the Brazilian’s one-hundredth goal for the club. It was an important performance from the striker because Barcelona are entering a busy period. They need players such as him to step up, so hopefully he continues with these quality performances.
Formation
In the absence of the Argentine genius, Luis Enrique decided to revert back to the trustworthy 4-3-3. This enabled him to rotate the squad significantly while still getting the best out of Neymar and Suárez. The 3-4-3 diamond is a good combination of bolstering the midfield by providing an extra player, and getting the best out of Messi. However, it requires pressing deep into the opposition half for it to work well, which is risky. Therefore, it made sense to use a 4-3-3 in this match because the team was a lot more stable defensively.
Overall, Enrique managed to get his tactics spot on because Barcelona were able to ease their way through this match. With this being the first game in a pivotal month, it’s interesting to compare Barcelona with Real Madrid’s game. Los Blancos struggled to beat Alavés with the 3-0 scoreline flattering them. Key players such as Luka Modrić struggled to exert any control on the game, which was in contrast to his Croatian teammate Ivan Rakitić, and Sergio Busquets.
Next: Granada-Barcelona player ratings
It may be a leap to suggest that Real are starting to suffer due to the simplistic style that Zinedine Zidane uses. However, there has definitely been a shift in momentum, based on recent performances, in favour of Barcelona from Real, which could be key in the second El Clásico of the season. This is based on the assumption that the loss against Deportivo was an anomaly caused by the enormous effort that went into the PSG match. Los Blancos have struggled through matches, whereas the Blaugrana have produced some scintillating football.