Chelsea so far — Continuing the trend.

Mourinho has accused Barcelona of not utilising Fabregas properly, and whilst there are some key differences stylistically and positionally at his new club (he tackles twice as much as he used to, for example), his first season at Chelsea largely continued the trend of what came before it.

This season has probably been the strongest of his career. He sits way ahead of anyone else on league assists on a total of 19 — seven more than anyone else, and only one shy of Henry’s Premier League record. Two came in his five matches against Top Four opposition, which is a slight improvement on his record at Barcelona and a decent ratio.

Yet, in a Top Four mini-table, Chelsea won 10 points out of a possible 18, with four draws and two wins — a very good, unbeaten record, yet still 6 points fewer than the 16 out of 18 points (five wins, one draw) that Chelsea gained in the equivalent matches in ‘13-’14, without Fabregas, in an otherwise poor and trophy-less season, where they finished third in the league.

The current landscape of the Premier League is such that the six points “dropped” by Chelsea don’t really matter — it’s a competitive enough league, often won by a low enough points tally, that it’s more the points gained or dropped against the mid-tier and lower half sides, that is where the league is won or lost. In the 2013–2014, this proved to be the case for Chelsea in losses to the likes of Villa, Sunderland and Palace. The creativity of Fabregas was instrumental in breaking those sides down in Chelsea’s title win, and for that he’s proved to be an excellent buy —arguably the most critical in deciding a title since Van Persie in 2012.

Whilst there was a habitual dip in the second half of the season — 75% of the assists came in the first half of the season, it was the Champions League knockout performances that will have proved the most comfortingly familiar for fans of his previous club. PSG are arguably one of only a small handful of genuinely top-class opposition that Fabregas has faced in a Chelsea shirt, and even they were in poor form, sitting third in Ligue 1 when the two sides met.

In the first leg, Fabregas was a blank — the worst rated player on WhoScored.com of the Chelsea starters. Offensively, he completed a single dribble but didn’t attempt a shot, or place a key pass. Mourinho’s away method is often based on stifling the opposition and stopping the flow of the game, so it’s not a surprise that Fabregas (and others) had ninety minutes that were creatively stunted. But in terms of his defensive contribution, he tackled fewer times than any of his midfield colleagues, aside from Oscar, yet got booked and conceded four fouls. He didn’t intercept the ball once, and generally didn’t impose his mark on a Chelsea midfield that were overrun, asking too much of Nemanja Matic. Cavani’s important equaliser came from a long spell of possession that was easy to maintain, with the forwards — uncharacteristacally against a Mourinho team — finding space in dangerous positions.

Chelsea were still favourites to qualify in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, especially after Ibrahimovic’s early sending off. Over the 120 minutes, Fabregas had over 100 touches of the ball, more than any of his team-mates, but to put it in context, fewer than most of the PSG midfield, playing with ten men; Pastore and Motta, and astonishingly, Verratti, who’d played forty minutes fewer. Against the depleted side, Fabregas created little; playing one key pass (in comparison, Willian who only appeared after half-time, played three, as did Diego Costa). In what turned out to be defined by Chelsea holding on; o-o, 1-o, and 2–1 all being just good enough, the blues lacked a control and composure to see it through, and whilst they were undone by set-pieces, they were contingent on a midfield that were unable to see much of the ball, dispatch to an outlet, or kill off the game — in extra time, against a tiring ten men.

What shouldn’t have been allowed to happen, did. It’s something that is a recurrence of Fabregas’ career — Chelsea in 2012, PSG twice in 2013, and again in both legs in 2015. Hell, even Bradford City; Cesc appearing on 70 minutes with the score at 2–1, only for the third tier outfit to win 2–4. Of course, none of these results are explicitly the man’s fault, or even his responsibility. Again, it’s not in any individual match that he is lamentable in his (small) part in a loss of control and composure, but rather in the cumulative repetition of his place in midfields that were bypassed or dominated in the face of all footballing logic.

It’s downright perplexing for a player of his calibre that this is even a trend in the first place. There is enough talent and technical ability there, that it’s more than likely — playing in a settled and balanced side like this, under a tactically astute manager — that it will be bucked; after all, at Chelsea so far this continuation essentially boils down to just two off nights. Another season of this though, and Mourinho might have to think about when to play (or not to play) Cesc Fabregas.

Ivan Rakitic’s role in Barcelona’s reinvention.

This delightful piece of skill and break to assist Carlos Bacca took the game away from a Madrid side who were still in pole-position to claim the title in March 2014.

With an impending transfer ban, the loss of Xavi looming, and Fabregas’ transfer to Chelsea, a strong midfield signing was imperative for Barcelona at the start of the Luis Enrique era. Rakitic had just had his strongest season to date for an excellent Sevilla side, captaining them to Europa League triumph, and getting double figures in both assists and goals in La Liga. He also saved many of his best performances for Sevilla’s biggest games;

This inch-perfect volleyed through ball was played in extra time of a European final, for crying out loud.

After a transfer fee of about 16 million euros (roughly half of what Fabregas was sold for), Rakitic’s early performances for Barcelona were promising. He played the full ninety of the first five Liga matches of the season, in a side that was otherwise rotated. He got an assist in his debut against Elche, and his first goal came only a couple of games later, a cracking strike from outside the box against Levante. It seemed like Rakitic was fitting in well, and also providing extra defensive guile alongside Busquets — Barcelona did not concede in the first eight matches of the season, with Rakitic starting the first six.

Luis Enrique did not repeat the same line-up in the first 22 league matches. It was something that heavily contributed to the criticism he faced when Barcelona were going through a “crisis” in January. After Rakitic’s five consecutive starts, he found himself coming off the bench, rested, and starting the first real domestic test of the season — October’s Clasico — on the sidelines, with the experience of Xavi & Iniesta opted for instead. Madrid were deservedly ahead when Rakitic was substituted on after 60 minutes. His first contribution was one to forget — a sloppy and wasteful corner found the feet of an opposition player, which catalysed a typically clinical Madrid break, Benzema scoring to put the game beyond Barcelona, 3–1. The tie was over and Rakitic did little.

He’d also had an underwhelming Champions League debut against PSG a few weeks earlier, though he was generally quite involved and a physical presence, he was suffocated creatively by the imposing PSG midfield, as Fabregas was a few months later. Premature evaluations might have pointed to a player who suffered from the same flaws as his predecessor.

As the season went on, it proved to be quite the opposite. Rakitic started quite often in midfield, but would still miss out occasionally as the team would rotate throughout the entire first half of the season. After the meltdown catalysed by Barcelona’s shoddy loss to Sociedad (Rakitic was also rested that night, alongside the more headline-demanding, Messi and Neymar) and all the drama and institutional changes that followed — a juncture that has already, decidedly, become the integral turning point that in the narrative that is the ‘14–’15 season.

Rakitic found himself back in the Starting XI the following week; an XI that would establish itself as Barcelona’s best. They put in their best and most complete performance that night, convincingly batting aside an Atletico Madrid who they’d failed to beat in six matches the season before — this was their first of four wins out of four matches this campaign; something that best encapsulates the differences between the Martino and Enrique reigns. Fabregas started each of those (Super Cup aside), Rakitic started each of these.

That night was defined by Messi, Neymar and Suarez, each scoring, and two of them assisting one another. They would define many of Barcelona’s wins from then on. So it would be false to put Rakitic at the centre of that picture, in that now-famous turning-point match, but he’s still an important cog in a Barcelona that had exorcised their demons. He was a more physical presence, intercepting, tackling and winning the ball back to prove more of a nuisance-like occupancy in midfield than had been their before (see gif below)— which combined with Busquets doing what Busquets does, a Pique at his best, and a u-turn in set-piece competence, explain Barcelona’s defence being amongst the best in Europe, and better than ever before. In attack, he still created space and switched dynamics, aiding the front three, through some of his crossfield balls, and his movement as part of the counter would often cause problems for the defence. He didn’t claim a direct assist, but played the dangerous ball across the box that eventually found Messi, for him to put the game to bed. Both of these facets to his game would be a theme of his solid performances against Atletico to come.

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He can also take a sizable amount of the credit for Barcelona’s solidity and superlative defensive record. In an attacking sense, his league record of five goals and seven assists in La Liga is far from poor (Iniesta had one goal and no assists), but it doesn’t actually match his Sevilla total, or even any of Fabregas three seasons, in goals or assists. But his role is different — he’s admittedly fortunate that that he’s playing behind arguably the greatest front three in history, who can usually be relied upon to create and score the goals themselves, but if he’s lacking in his direct contributions to scoring, his positional sense and passing (especially in his long passes) is absolutely vital in anchoring between that front three and the defence, in a way that Fabregas never really was. He is excellent in finding, and helping to create, the space that the front three utilise to tear apart teams. Admittedly, you’d expect Rakitic and Iniesta as a creative midfield duo to improve upon the eight assists and five goals between them, next season.

Obligatory “mute the music on a YouTube footballer compilation” warning. Somehow worse Embrace (Embrace!) on the Fabregas video above.

In the league, Barcelona only lost a single game that Rakitic started (0–1 against Celta). They lost three without him. In the six pointers of the season, he was actually quite poor in a Busquets-less midfield in the second Clasico of the season, a 2–1 win that was instrumental to the title win, as he didn’t impose himself like he often does — having fewer touches of the ball than any outfield Barcelona starter, and his substitution for the returning Busquets actually contributed to them seeing out the game so coolly, killing it off totally after Suarez’s winning goal. His performances in the 5–1 win over Sevilla, and 5–2 win at the San Mames stuck out a bit more, and he put in a solid, composed shift to beat Athletic again in the Copa final.

The most impressive thing about Rakitic is that he saved many of his best performances for the latter half of the season, especially in Europe. In his one season in the Champions League knockout stages, Rakitic’s two goals and one assist match Fabregas’ record of direct goal contributions in the same stages, in his three years at Barcelona (his three assists against Leverkusen) — and all of which were important goals against genuinely top-class opposition (the Italian champions, the German champions, and the incumbent English champions). They also demonstrated the versatility of Rakitic in midfield;

Why not?

The genius of Messi’s second goal in the semi against Bayern is 99% him, and one his greatest — a genuine masterpiece of individual skill and ability. But it’s also interesting to consider the directness of the build-up; Rakitic plays a one-two to turn and find an extra yard of space, and very quickly plays a great, accurate through ball to Messi. The rest is history, but this is quite a goal created by something more head-on than the 2009 and 2011 Guardiola editions of Barcelona. It’s very much a goal of the counter-attacking and more direct elements that Enrique has brought to the Catalan club.

Contrast that to the opening goal of the Champions League final, which is something straight out of that era. Intricate passing and movement in the final third, from midfielders who moved into very advanced positions and linked up well with a front three whose movement was also vital.

These are both important and impressive expressions of Rakitic’s talent, and contribution to Barcelona winning the Champions League this season. But outside of these noteworthy contributions are excellent performances otherwise.

In the Champions League final, Rakitic played more key passes (4) than anyone else on the pitch, saw a lot of the ball, and tested Buffon once. He played 3 key passes in the first leg against Bayern, and intercepted the ball three times. He played as many key passes as any other Barcelona player in the first and second legs of the quarters against PSG (1 and 2) and had an average 95% passing accuracy across the two legs. He tackled an impressive 4 times in the first away leg. He scored the only goal of the second leg against Man City.

Over the season, Rakitic totally justified his place in the best starting XI of a treble-winning side. There aren’t many higher accolades than that. At 27, you’d expect the best might be come from him, especially as he further aclimatises and gels with this team. Their most important players are tied down for next season at least, and without being able to tinker in the transfer market, a stability and continuation and development of this very balanced squad might be exactly what Barcelona need — another season without major injuries and they have as good a chance as anyone ever has of retaining the European Cup.