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Barcelona need to be wary of Nabil Fekir threat

By Benjamin Barkworth

Guingamp's Gabonese midifielder Didier Ndong (C-L) fights for the ball with Lyon's French forward Nabil Fekir (R) during the French Cup round of 16 football match between Guingamp (EAG) and Lyon (OL), on February 7, 2019, at Roudourou Stadium, in Guingamp, western France. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP) (Photo credit should read JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)
Guingamp's Gabonese midifielder Didier Ndong (C-L) fights for the ball with Lyon's French forward Nabil Fekir (R) during the French Cup round of 16 football match between Guingamp (EAG) and Lyon (OL), on February 7, 2019, at Roudourou Stadium, in Guingamp, western France. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP) (Photo credit should read JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images) /
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The French playmaker missed the first leg so he will be determined to make an impact at Camp Nou.

Barcelona had the better of the chances in the first leg as Lyon largely focused on disrupting their style by breaking up play as well as mounting a valiant rearguard action and they managed to hold the Catalans to a 0-0 draw. This leaves Barca in a dangerous position due to the away goals rule which means they have to win this match or draw 0-0 and win on penalties in order to qualify. However, they will have to deal with an additional threat in Nabil Fekir in the second leg.

Fekir is the game-changer in their team with his playmaking and goalscoring ability making him capable of producing moments of magic. In this season’s Champions League, he has scored three goals and assisted two in just 416 minutes as well as 12 goals and seven assists in all competitions in just 2020 minutes.

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His return means Memphis Depay can either be played out wide or as a centre-forward which suits him better than the central attacking midfield role as he can roam and make intelligent runs in behind. Fekir suits the attacking midfield role in a 4-2-3-1 formation as he can link up play and help the team transition quickly as well as unlock defences in the final third. Therefore, Lyon’s attacking play is likely to be more organised and they need to shut down Fekir’s influence by denying space for him to work in.

Bruno Genesio could opt for a 3-4-1-2 set-up in order to utilise another centre-back while having two pivots in front of the defence with Fekir in a free role and two strikers to occupy the defence. This comes at the expense of width as they only have wing-backs in that area, but the majority of Barcelona’s attacking play flows through the central areas due to Lionel Messi being the focal point.

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Catching Barcelona in their defensive transition will be Lyon’s best way to grab an away goal due to the gaps that can be exploited between the midfield and defence and space in behind the full-backs due to how involved they are in the attacking phase. Barcelona should have more than enough firepower to reach the next round as long as they avoid silly defensive errors and deny Lyon the chance to build periods of sustained pressure.