Barcelona hosted Juventus on the first day of the group stages, which was a repeat fixture of last year’s quarter final which saw Juventus progress. Both teams have lost important players this year but will still fancy their chances at lifting the trophy in May. Juventus and Barcelona organized their offensive players in a similar fashion. However, the game was changed by the experience and technical quality of Andres Iniesta and Leo Messi. Juventus were missing a lot of key players and their lack of attacking fluency hurt them throughout this game.

The copycat way to play

Barcelona and Juventus shaped up in almost a mirror image of each other. Both teams played a type of 4-3-3 with the ball and a 4-4-2 without. Messi and Dybala played in identical roles as the number 10 behind Higuaín and Suarez respectively.

Barcelona played the traditional Barcelona way, by looking to create short sharp passes in between the lines, whilst using Dembele as their runner in behind the defense. They set up with a familiar midfield three of Iniesta, Rakitic and Busquets. Valverde started with the front three for Barcelona of Dembele, Messi and Suarez. Messi played very narrow with and without the ball, whilst Dembele played as a more traditional wing forward in a front three.

Juventus set up as an almost mirror image of Barcelona. Dybala played narrow and close to Higuaín, whilst Douglas Costa played on the left as a traditional wing forward. The wide players relied on Alex Sandro and Nelson Semedo to assist with both defensive and offensive duties. Juventus defended in between the lines very well and were very compact for most of the game. They were most dangerous on the counter. However, as the game wore on their front players were less and less effective. The similarities of both teams attacking three can be seen below. On the left is Barcelona and the right is Juventus.

Iniesta’s adaptation and experience

Juventus pressed with a lot of energy high up the field in the first half. They pressed aggressively and looked to cut off the passing lanes to Messi and Suarez’s feet. This was particularly apparent on Barcelona’s left hand side. Bentancur was defending as the widest player in a midfield four. He consistently looked to force Barcelona to pass to an isolated Jordi Alba. Iniesta identified very early in the game that Juventus were intent on cutting the supply to Messi and Suarez. As a result, Iniesta started to drift into positions behind Bentancur to force Juventus’ midfield four to stretch.

Iniesta’s (8) positioning close to Alba can be seen in the image above and is in contrast to Bentancur’s (30) more narrow positioning. This was most obvious when Iniesta dribbled infield from the left behind Bentancur, and forced a foul from Matuidi. This ploy from Juventus definitely had merit but unfortunately came undone. As you can see below from the image provided by Whoscored.com all of Barcelona’s chances came from the centre of the pitch. Therefore cutting off the supply lines through the middle is a reasonable ploy.

Dembele looks like a very promising player, but he is not on the same level as Neymar yet. Additionally, his understanding and link play with Suarez and Messi will still need time. However, his role in Messi’s first goal was very impressive. For the first time, Barcelona were able to get the ball in behind Juventus’ midfield four. Dembele controlled Pique’s long ball and turned infield expertly to feed Messi. Messi then linked with Suarez to score a very class goal. This was one of the first times in the game Barcelona got behind Juventus’ midfield.

Leo Messi

The two goals in the second half highlighted two key themes of the game.

The second half was a lot different to the first. Juventus started the game at a much higher tempo than the hosts in the first half; however, it was Barcelona who set the pace in the second. Messi began to drop deeper in midfield to get greater control of the game. Barcelona also employed a greater intensity to their Gegen press which was evident for Rakitic’s goal.

As Messi began to drop deeper, Barcelona began to play in a diamond with Dembele moving infield, closer to Suarez. Messi’s positioning allowed Barcelona to own more of the ball in the final third. Busquets, Rakitic, and Iniesta all looked to link with Messi and play one touch passes to penetrate the lines, implementing what Barcelona do best.

Not only did moving Messi deeper allow him to get on the ball, but it also enabled him to play a key role in Barcelona’s Gegen press. This was evident for Rakitic’s goal. Barcelona lost the ball to Benatia then immediately pressed him, forcing a turn over and going on to score. Similarly, it happened on 59 minutes when Barzagli gave up possession with an excellent press and interception by Ivan Rakitic. Messi was a very effective play maker but he also played a pivotal role in orchestrating Barcelona’s pressure without the ball.

Juventus’ demise

The second key theme of the second half was Juventus’ front players’ inability to hold the ball or produce any moments of quality on the counter. It took until 81 minutes for Juventus’ front players to connect and apply pressure to Barcelona. Unfortunately for Juventus, their game started to fall apart in the second half and they coughed up another goal. In this case it was Higuaín who lost the ball in his own half with a tepid pass. To add insult to injury, Juventus won the ball back in the same passage and attacked again through Higuaín. Bernadeschi and Higuaín had a misunderstanding and lost possession much to Higuaín’s visible frustration. Barcelona played the ball forward and Messi supplied another excellent finish to kill the game completely.

Juventus failed to adapt to the game. They started in the same way as they did the first half and still failed to get anything for their efforts. Most likely, this can be attributed to experience. The two key men of this game were Leo Messi (30) and Andres Iniesta (33). Pablo Dybala (23) and Rodrigo Bentancur (20) were in the same roles for Juventus. The young Juventus players have time to learn from their competitors in this case, but tonight was not their night.

Conclusion

Juventus did well early on in the game and looked to dictate the tempo with aggressive energy without the ball. However, it was Iniesta’s experience which started to cause Juventis trouble. There was very little between the teams in the first half. However, in the second Barcelona started to play at a higher tempo and Juventus looked less threatening as the game wore on. Barcelona showed more components to their game. Messi moving deeper allowed him to dictate play but it also enabled him to orchestrate his team’s press, which led to Barcelona getting their goals. The game was changed by Messi and Iniesta, two players who brought forth experience and class for Barcelona. Unfortunately, Juventus were unable to adapt to the game and came up short. This isn’t surprising given the amount of players they were without.

MOTM – Leo Messi

Take home points – Dembele still has a way to go but does look promising. Umtiti looked very good defensively and with the ball at his feet. Juventus missed their regular starting players tonight and will need to improve for the repeat fixture.