3 Things We Learned: FC Barcelona vs Juventus FC

The Catalans started Ernesto Valverde’s managerial reign with a 2-1 win over Juventus.

Neymar’s Show

The Brazilian used the match to show off how talented he is. There has been intense speculation about his future with PSG activating his release clause. Although, it now appears that he is staying due to a tweet from Gerard Piqué. It’s quite remarkable that a social media post could have so much authority, but it does appear to have killed off the speculation. Regardless, Neymar was the star of the show in this match.

He scored both of Barcelona’s goals with one of them being a fantastic solo effort. The first was a nice piece of link-up play from the front three. Lionel Messi found Neymar with a pass on the edge of the box, and then he proceeded to do a quick one-two with Paco Alcácer before curling a finish past Gianluigi Buffon.

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His second was a wonder solo effort as Messi found him on the edge of the box and the Brazilian managed to evade six defenders in the box before firing past Buffon. It was a Messi-esque goal in terms of the close-control dribbling ability. That’s how good of a goal it was.

The Brazilian was a menace on the left side during the half he played, but he was also willing to drop deep in order to help progression. He was often the focal point of counter-attacks and always provided an option with his movement in the final third. It will be interesting to see whether Valverde gives him more creative freedom or keeps him in more of a hard-working role similar to what Luis Enrique did.

Samper Takes His Chance

The young Spaniard showed that he has the potential to be Sergio Busquets’ understudy. He has areas to work on, but he definitely has the intelligence and range of abilities for the role. Keeping him around the key players rather than sending him out on loan will boost his progression significantly due to learning from the best.

His positioning and composure stood out the most. He did make mistakes, but he did the requirements of his role well. There was no issue for him over when to move back into the centre of defence or when to push up, so he was an excellent pivot for the team. Pressure didn’t seem to faze him either as his passing was consistent.

The main issue was that he sometimes took too long the ball to work out what he wanted to do even if he didn’t necessarily lose possession. This contrasts with Busquets who seems to be five moves ahead of anyone else on the pitch. It is harsh to compare because Busquets is a master of his craft, but that is who he is filling in for. Also, his heading wasn’t precise, but that’s very specific considering he only played 45 minutes.

Overall, he did excellent especially against such talented players even if it was a friendly. He just needs to continue this in the other pre-season matches in order to fully convince Valverde that he deserves to be in the squad for the season.

Valverde’s Small Changes

His first match in charge saw him stick closely to Barcelona’s roots with a 4-3-3 formation which is tradition for the club. It ensures control over possession due to the numbers in the midfield as well as the balance it brings to the team. However, Valverde did alter Barcelona’s style slightly in terms of their pressing.

There were clear moments of intense pressure on the ball from the Catalans as the entire team moved into the opposition half with the front three leading the press. There were clear similarities to how Valverde’s Bilbao played against Barcelona in the league last season, but in those matches the pressing was for much longer periods. This use of intense pressing especially when the ball has just been lost isn’t new to Barça.

Next: Barcelona 2-1 Juventus: post match thoughts

Under Pep Guardiola the Catalans used the ‘six second rule‘ to take advantage of disorganisation among the opposition. The idea behind it being that the opposition are weak straight after they have just won the ball back. This meant the team had six seconds to win the ball back before getting back into defensive shape. However, the combination of intensity and pursuit of the ball high up the pitch, in stages, is an interesting change.

It’s hard to judge how Barça will play under Valverde based on one pre-season match, but they prioritised getting the ball to the front three quickly. In this regard, they were similar to how Luis Enrique got them to play because he preferred quick vertical transitions over progressing up the pitch using short passing centered around the midfield. Although, it has to be noted that teams take a while to adapt to the ideas of a new manager.