#BARCAATLETI: TOO MUCH AT STAKE

 

In this article we will analyse the La Liga game between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid which ended 0-0 after the final whistle. Leaders Atletico were looking to create some breathing space between them and Barcelona as the latter was just 3 points behind them. They were also keen to maintain some gap between themselves and their city rivals Real.

Given the magnitude of the game both managers decided to play conservatively and ensuring that the opponent did not obtain any major advantage when they lost possession. Barca managed 12 shots (7 on target) whereas Atletico managed to get 11 shots on Barca’s goal (6 on target). But the xG (1.05.0-94) shows that the chances created by both teams were not big chances or chances with higher probability of goals. The only way any team could have scored in this game was through a mistake or by a great piece of skill.

LINEUPS & FORMATION

Barcelona changed their formation from regular 4-3-3 to 3-5-2/3-3-2-2 to try and stretch out Atletico’s two banks of a very narrow 4 and create overloads on the flanks. Lenglet, Pique and Mingueza were the 3 centre backs flanked by Alba on the left and Dest on right. Busquets played as the deep lying midfielder with De Jong and Pedri playing as no. 8s in front of him. Leading the line was the duo of Griezmann and Messi.


 
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LINEUPS
 

Atletico Madrid on paper were looking to play 4-4-2 but as soon as the first whistle went they shifted to 5-3-2 formation, 5-4-1 without possession. Hermoso joined Savic and Felipe at the centre back. Carrasco who usually plays at the left of the midfield shifted to play LWB and Trippier as RWB. Koke, Llorente and Lemar were the midfielders with Correa and Suarez forming a two man attack.

BARCELONA'S GAMEPLAN

Barcelona’s 3-5-2 formation worked in some ways but due to the lack of speed in the transition it meant that Atletico had a lot of time to read their opponents movement and react according to it. Dest was constantly moving forward from the right side either hugging the touch line or moving into the half spaces sometimes but other than Messi no one provided him with an underlapping run or the support on the flanks. Alba was doing the same thing from the left side but due to Trippier staying back even during attacking phase this meant that there was no such space available on the left.


 
DEST AND MESSI WERE THE ONLY DRIVING FORCE FOR BARCA
 

Barca had a lot of time on the ball in the second half as Atletico was trying hard not to concede any goals in the later stages of the match. Barca moved the ball from one flank to another as the narrow back line from Atletico suggested the availability of spaces on the flank. Other than Messi there was no creativity shown by Barca players as most of the time they played a backward pass, 5-yard short passes or moved the ball side to side. They should prioritize finding a new striker so that Griezmann can play as no.10 or be sold.

ATLETICO'S GAMEPLAN AND TACTICS

Everyone expected Atletico to be on the backfoot and try to find some spaces to counter attack. But Atletico dominated most of the possession in the first half and created a lot of decent chances. The only thing that saved Barcelona was Atletico’s approach of playing it safe and not committing too many players forwards and it became easy for their trio of centre backs to manage the danger.

HOW ATLETICO EXPLOITED AREAS BETWEEN FULL BACKS AND CENTRE BACKS?


 
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CARRASCO WAS THE MAN OF THE MATCH
 

Atletico players tried to use those spaces left open by Dest and Alba and highly succeded in some creating chances. With Lemar moving forward and Carrasco joining him from the left side, Atletico formed a passing triangle on the flanks with Koke. As you can see in the above image Lemar and Carrasco pulled out Dest and Pedri also joins him to provide cover. This meant that there was a lot of green area to run into for the likes of Correa and Llorente who loves to make those late runs into the box.

Once Lemar was off the field due to an injury, Carrasco stepped up and won most of his 1 on 1's with Dest. This was done mostly on the left side of Atletico as Carrasco was moving forward a lot with respect to Trippier. Another way Atletico tried to breach Barcelona’s defence was to play those through balls between two central defenders for Suarez to run into. This was not successful as Pique, Lenglet and Mingueza were sticking close to not let any kind of ball to go through.

ATLETICO'S OFF THE BALL GAME

Atletico were happy to let Barca have possession and let Busquets play the role of distributor, but Busquets was taken off the field because of his concussion and De Jong was chosen to play the role of no.6 and becoming the link between defence and attack. As soon as De Jong changed his position Atletico players heavily pressed him and closed all the passing lanes for him. However this was done only for the remainder of the time in the first half as Atletico returned back to old ways in second half.

Nonetheless, it was a good decision to press De Jong considering how he struggled to perform for Barca under Setien when he was used in that role. Defensively Atletico played a narrow 5-4-1 which turned into a 7-3-0 or 6-3-1 when Barca approached the final third. As the game was getting close to a finish this defensive line went narrower which allowed Barcelona a lot of spaces on the flanks to provide crosses, but with Atletico having so many players behind the ball and in the box it was easy to deal with.

WHAT I THINK COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER?

BARCELONA

Barca had a lot of spaces to attack on the right side as Carrasco was moving forward and it would have been easy to catch him out of position in a counter attack. While attacking Dest would have become a false right mid or even a right winger hugging the sidelines and with Moriba coming off the bench, joining in they could have created overloads on wings which in turn would have created spaces for Messi and Griezmann on the other side.

ATLETICO MADRID

For Atletico they could have played Felix instead to Correa who had freedom to roam anywhere on the pitch just like a no.10 with Suarez acting as a focal point in the middle and with Carrasco bombing forward from the left side, their link up play could have been the difference between creating chances and converting them. Other than this maybe Atletico could have pushed a little higher for victory just to get that safety net at the top if they lose their next games.


 
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THE LA LIGA TITLE IS GOING TO THE WIRE
 

PYTHAGORAS PERSPECTIVE

For most of the part it was a very dull affair but it was expected considering the stakes of the game. However in a match consisting of Suarez, Felix, Griezmann and Messi, Carrasco was the best attacking player on the pitch and he was playing as left wing back. Atletico were the beneficiary of this result as Real drew 2-2 to Sevilla the next day meant that they still have that 2 points gap over Real and have fate in their own hands. This title race will sure go down to the wire and could be decided on the final day.

For Barcelona this is not end of the world as they are still only 2 points behind leaders Atletico but slipped to 3rd place as they are tied on points with Real who have a good head to head record against Barca. Now their focus will be on the next three games as they are facing opponents who are below mid table except Celta Vigo, whereas Atletico will play their next game against Sociedad and Real will play their last game against Villarreal in which both teams can drop points.

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