Analysis: Barcelona

Barcelona set up in their familiar 4-3-3 formation, with Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Arthur in midfield, supporting Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho in attack.

Barca tried to dominate possession and penetrate through Sevilla from the outset, particularly in the half-spaces. On the right-hand side, full-back Nelson Semedo would push high while Messi would drop inside into a deeper position. Rakitic would be pressed by Franco Vazquez when he received the ball, which would leave Messi and Semedo in a two-on-one against left wing-back Guilherme Arana. When Messi dropped into a deeper position and the ball was travelling towards him, one or both Barca full-backs would set out to make penetrating runs in behind the Sevilla defence. Messi would then look to play over the top to them.

After Messi was replaced by Ousmane Dembele midway through the first half, Barca lost control of the game and their quality in attack dropped. Coutinho’s importance in dictating their build grew, with the Brazilian now becoming the player to drop deeper and roam with more freedom.

Barca had to play with patience, but still looked to utilise the half-spaces and wider areas to fashion chances against a back three that made it difficult to create and score centrally. But while they demonstrated patience, they appeared to lack invention, with limited movement ahead of the ball and lots of futile horizontal possession. This did help them to maintain some control of the game, but it offered little in the way of creating chances.

As Sevilla chased the game, Barca found themselves operating deeper and with more caution without the ball – this in turn leant itself to counter-attacking opportunities. Upon a regain, they would look to find Dembele, who would either go directly at his man or use the supporting runners to pass across the pitch and finish the attack on the other side. These counter-attacks created some opportunities for the hosts to extend the scoreline, which they duly did in the second half.

Out of possession, Barca used two systems: they would either press Sevilla high in their usual 4-3-3 structure and try to force them into mistakes, or they would sit deeper in a 4-1-4-1/4-5-1 mid-block and wait for a pressing trigger or their opponents to give the ball away. When pressing high, they struggled to regain possession against a Sevilla team that had control of the wide areas and found it relatively easy to break the hosts’ initial press.

They were most effective in their mid-block, where Busquets had an important role in screening the ball into Wissam Ben Yedder or Andre Silva while simultaneously being in a position to press Ever Banega or whoever was central at that given moment. The line of engagement was just beyond the halfway line, but it remained a cautious press, as they looked to cover the width of the field using five midfielders in an attempt to nullify the wide threat. They would try to prevent forward play and would only initiate a press if a Sevilla player received the ball facing their own goal – when the ball was then played backwards, the press would continue.