Match date: 11 January 2015

The build up to this game was almost all about the relationship of Messi and Luis Enrique. Stories of a tattered relationship made the papers after Barcelona lost to Real Sociedad in their previous league match, missing an opportunity to climb above Real Madrid in La Liga.

Simeone and Atletico Madrid are coming off of a win over Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey and showed good form in doing so.

Luis Enrique put out, arguably, his best side with a front three of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar in a 4-3-3. Messi played on the right side of the front three, with Suarez through the middle, a slight change to recent matches.

Simeone set his side out in a 4-4-2 with Mandzukic and Griezmann up top. Jose Gimenez kept his spot in the starting XI alongside his countryman, Godin, after a good performance against Real Madrid.

Midfield Battle, Width

Over the course of the season, Barcelona’s midfield has gone through changes. First, no longer does the first choice three consist of Xavi, who has been replaced by Rakitic, the summer signing from Sevilla. When the year started, Iniesta and Rakitic were constantly found in wide areas, which left a huge gap in midfield that Busquets was left to deal with on his own leading to poor performances for Barcelona. As the season has done on, Luis Enrique has adjusted this and the midfield trio has played more compact, supporting one another and moving the ball well. Against Atletico Madrid, they performed excellently.

Barcelona had the numerical advantage, with Atletico Madrid playing a 4-4-2 and neither Griezmann or Mandzukic were effective in marking Busquets to make sure he didn’t get on the ball, which meant that Gabi and Suarez had a huge amount of work to do in their attempt to contain Busquets, Iniesta, and Rakitic. This was increasingly problematic for Atletico Madrid and after the about half way through the first half, Simeone decided to change from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 in an attempt to match up numerically against Barcelona. Koke moved into midfield with Gabi and Suarez. However, even with a midfield three, Atletico were not pressing high up the pitch so all Busquets had to do was drop a bit deeper between Pique and Mascherano and he then had the time and space to pick out forward passes.

That was the first problem that faced Atletico Madrid, Busquets’ freedom. The second problem was that they were unable to really play the way they wanted to defensively. Over the last year, Atletico have become known for allowing their opponents to have the ball because their defensive discipline was so excellent; they stay compact in their width and depth, they shift well together, and they remain patient as they pick their chances to tackle and intercept to launch breaks. Against Barcelona, they were unable to do this because of the second problem they faced, Barcelona’s width.

As soon as Barcelona got the ball in the centre of the pitch, both Messi and Neymar would find their respective touchline and would then only move inside when the ball was moving on the opposite side, though Messi had some more freedom to roam inside, the width on the right side would then be taken up by Rakitic. This made the pitch extremely big and Barcelona were happy to play long diagonals out to the open player in the wide areas, which meant that Atletico Madrid were forced to spread their midfield wider than they would have hoped.

Once Barcelona were able to find their width, they could either attack down the side (which they did often) or they could quickly circulate the ball back to the middle and find a pass forward as Atletico’s midfield had wider gaps than usual.

Barcelona Press

As good of a game as it was for Barcelona going forward, it was equally as good off the ball when they looked to press. It was arguably their best performance under Luis Enrique and their best display off the ball in quite some time. The front three of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar led the pressing well. While Neymar and Suarez have shown good energy throughout the year when pressing, Messi’ appetite hasn’t seemed as whet, except in this match. He showed excellent energy in his pressing, including a good display of it in the 31st minute when he pressed Mario Suarez.

Much of Barcelona’s best work came around midfield rather than further up the pitch. They quickly got behind the ball and cut off the passing lanes to the forward players. Atletico’s counter attacks were stifled and Barcelona conceded very few, which limited Atletico’s chances to create chances. Their best counter attack came through Mandzukic down the right side of their attack. he played a ball into the path of Torres, but Claudio Bravo read it well, came out, and smothered the ball before it reached Torres. Below is a good example of just Barcelona got behind the ball quickly to stop the counter attacks and cut off the forward options to the forwards.

A notable reason for Barcelona’s success in midfield was the back line. The back four consisted of Alves, Pique, Mascherano, and Alba, arguably Enrique’s first choice, and they worked extremely well together and, like the midfield, looked much better than they had earlier in the season. They were in near perfect sync when they stepped up and their high line helped squeeze the midfield play, making Barcelona’s ability to cut off counter attacks much easier.

Barcelona Overload Right

With Messi on the right, he was given a bit more space than he usually finds when roaming in the middle of the pitch. He can obviously do a good job in that middle area, but at times, he gets marked well or is forced to simply continuing the circulation of the ball rather than look for opportunities to create. Whether it was being moved to the right and thus having more space to operate or something of a point to prove to critics and Enrique, Messi looked well up for the match and Barcelona used him well.

Many of their best attacks came down the right side, through Messi, with the Argentine playing a part in all three goals (and Atletico’s goal) and Alves and Rakitic supported him well. Alves would offer an option on the outside when messi began movements inside and Rakitic would slide over to create a 3v2 with Gamez having little support in his attempts to contain Messi.

Rakitic’s movement was key as he would, at times, occupy Gamez, as he did for Barcelona’s opening goal. The Croatian beyond Messi, received the ball, drew the attention of three Atletico players, and allowed Messi space to receive, play a quick one-two with Alves, and find himself in a 1v1 situation with Godin. Messi then squared the ball to Suarez who miscontrolled into the path of Neymar with the Brazilian poking the ball into the goal.

Conclusion

Barcelona had almost complete control over the match. Atletico had just three shots on goal, including the penalty scored by Mandzukic, with the other two coming from outside the area. Barcelona looked very good going forward and the front three of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez played their best game together, each picking up a goal, and celebrating the third goal together. Defensively, Barcelona looked at their best. Against the best counter attacking team in the world, they conceded very few meaningful counter attacks. Along with this, Messi looked his best and made the most of the space that was able to operate in on the right side of Barcelona’s attacking three.

Simeone and Atletico looked unable to contain Barcelona. Their usual defensive principles were outdone by the width that Barcelona maintained and the quick ball movement. Simeone reacted about half way through the first half by switching from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1, and it worked relatively well as Atletico were a bit more dangerous during this spell, but Simeone switched back to a 4-4-2 in the second half and outdone once again.

Atletico Madrid have a second leg against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey during the midweek, while Barcelona take on Elche.