Barca evolve, as Messi’s shadow grows a tad smaller

-By Sagar

Follow @Sagar_m10

It’s not easy to make Messi’s absence inconspicuous, but it happened. From thinking about how essential Messi is to Barca’s build up in the first half, to not giving it a second thought in the second half.

This was the real test before ‘Real Madrid’. Could Barca deliver convincing performances against top teams without Messi?

Neymar and Suarez made sure to answer that question.

Barcelona came out with a pretty straightforward line-up, and with Villarreal missing a few of their players, Barca looked to exploit Villarreal in the final third.

Villarreal came out with a clear game plan of maintaining defensive discipline, and pressing only in their half. They sat back when Barca had the ball, and when they did win it back, they didn’t resort to counter-attacking all the time. They circulated possession and tried to put variety into their attack, but they were never convincing enough in the final third except once or twice.

Barca did go through a very frustrating first half, and the referee’s performance was also below par. But, Barca did utilize Villarreal’s discipline to their advantage. The quality of Barca’s players was just too high to be contained for such long periods, and it eventually overcame the opposition’s defense.

Barca’s masterstroke:

The possession: When it became obvious that Villarreal are going to sit back, press only in their half, and probably launch attacks in the second half, Barca used it to their advantage.

They started playing and keeping possession in Villarreal’s half. With, almost, 21 players playing in a single half at one point, Barca got Villarreal players to commit, and ran them around in their own half.

When it became obvious that Villarreal are going to sit back, press only in their half, and probably launch attacks in the second half, Barca used it to their advantage. They started playing and keeping possession in Villarreal’s half. With, almost, 21 players playing in a single half at one point, Barca got Villarreal players to commit, and ran them around in their own half. The midfield press: Iniesta had a pretty good game, and his creativity trait was evident in the game, but he did misplace a few passes and looked to hurry the pace of the game. Which was needed, but the execution was lacking. Roberto too had a good game, bar the last 15 minutes, and Busquets was phenomenal. But what they all did, was press. In the second half, a tired Villarreal side was pressed ragged by Barca’s midfield. Iniesta especially did not ease up till he went after every ball within his ‘zone’. While Roberto and Iniesta harried the opposition, Busquets, always, positioned himelf to intercept and win the balls. The execution of this particular tactic went smooth.

Iniesta had a pretty good game, and his creativity trait was evident in the game, but he did misplace a few passes and looked to hurry the pace of the game. Which was needed, but the execution was lacking. Roberto too had a good game, bar the last 15 minutes, and Busquets was phenomenal. But what they all did, was press. In the second half, a tired Villarreal side was pressed ragged by Barca’s midfield. Iniesta especially did not ease up till he went after every ball within his ‘zone’. While Roberto and Iniesta harried the opposition, Busquets, always, positioned himelf to intercept and win the balls. The execution of this particular tactic went smooth. The ‘Busquets’: He has started becoming more adventurous this season as he moves up the pitch strategically, while pressing, and makes sure that it’s not easy to get past him. His passing and vision have always been exemplary, but the ‘timing’ of his movements and positioning were at the forefront today. Villarreal had the right idea in the first half when they marked and pressed Busquets to try and make him obsolete. So Busquets just moved forward in the second half, making their whole tactic obsolete. With him moving forward, he made sure his marker and his ‘press’ was in their half, and instead went about intercepting their passes, and setting up the front three. With almost 100 touches in the game, he literally controlled the tempo of the midfield.

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It’s seen that Busquets now likes to move forward more than before. He doesn’t do it often, and does stay back to cover the backline, but he picks his time and moves up to makes sure it puts more pressure on the opposition.



Barca’s first goal was the ‘midfield press’ tactic in all it’s glory. Iniesta and Roberto ghosted into the half and pressed Villarreal, and Busquets intercepted, looked up, fed the ball to Neymar, who controlled it perfectly and curled it into the the near post.

The second goal was a fast paced attacking move that had Costa’s rashness (EPL must be used to this phrase) written all over it as he brought down Munir in the box. Neymar left the penalty conversion duties to Suarez. A nice gesture, and Suarez made sure he converted it.



The third was a counter-attacking play, which saw Suarez giving a perfectly weighed short cross to Neymar with his weak foot. Neymar, then proceeded to dazzle everyone with a spectacular flick to wrong foot the defender and score the goal. A complete performance from Neymar that exemplifies his status as a top 5 player. Dare I say top 3 as of now?



Bravo did have to come out and pull a save , but didn’t have much to do apart from that. Alves and Pique, both played a good game as they made sure they didn’t put a foot wrong. Mathieu and Alba used their pace to their advantage and blocked off the left side. Sergi Roberto played his part in the midfield and again covered the right side with his attacks and defending. Munir was, once again very wide on the pitch, but it seems like whenever he does that and then attacks the box he’s winning penalties.

Also, special mention to Suarez and Neymar’s ‘weaker’ foots.

Barca made a statement with today’s win. They are tactically sound, and have world-class players to execute them. Their game plans, which does not have Messi in them, looks solid, and ready for Madrid.

Now all the attention is on the Barca medical staff, and everyone has one question. Messi?

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Barca:

Best: Busquets: (A): Our MotM. Neymar may have scored an amazing golazo and been a crucial piece in the attack, but Busquets was everywhere. Attacking, intercepting, blocking, and setting up goals. His positional play was immaculate, and his one-twos with Iniesta, in the MF, were a treat to the eyes.

Questionable display: Munir (C-): Where was he during the attack? He did win a penalty. It seems to be the theme of this week. A carbon-copy performance from the BATE match, where he did not attack the box as much from the right, and when he did he won a penalty, but he also did offer protection on the right for Alves.

Villarreal:

Best: Areola (B-): He conceded 3 goals, and although he could have done something about the 1st goal, he was not at fault for the others. He made a string of wonderful saves throughout the game as he stopped Suarez, Iniesta and Neymar on one or two occasions.

Questionable display: Jaume Costa (D): Rash, and he acted before he thought. He never looked composed infront of the ball, and always lunged in. One such decision led to a clear penalty. He was the weakest link in Villareal’s defense.

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