Lucho counterattacks

Yesterday 28th January 2015, FC Barcelona qualified for the semifinal of Spanish King's cup. 

They won 2-3 at Vicente Calderón after the 1-0 win at the Camp Nou.

Atlético de Madrid could not count on Koke, Tiago (injured) and Godín (suspended). Therefore el Cholo Simeone used Oblak behind Siqueira-Giménez-Miranda-Juanfran. Arda played on the left and Raúl García on the right, whereas Mario Suárez and Gabi occupied the centre. Upfront Griezmann and El Niño Torres.

Atleti's 4-4-2.

Luis Enrique used the starting XI that he repeated several times in the last games. 

Ter Stegen is the goalkeeper for the Cup, behind Alves-Piqué-Mascherano-Alba. Busquets, Rakitic and Iniesta occupied the midfield, and Messi - right wing -, Suárez and Neymar completed the 4-3-3.

Those two teams played last year for a spot in the UCL semifinals, and this is not a good memory for Barcelona. They were totally outplayed by the Colchoneros and were eliminated. Atleti's high pressing was key during that game and was likely to be repeated yesterday. 

Simeone did repeat his plan and only needed 37 seconds to score the opener. The game virtually started 1-0. 

Atleti pressures high.

FC Barcelona cannot build from the back.

Due to the high pressing,  Barcelona could not build from the back. Ter Stegen played long balls to the flanks, Atleti took the ball and rushed towards the German goalkeeper. Positional play was hard to see.

Passes from Ter Stegen during 1st half.

As a cause or consequence, Iniesta and Rakitic could not take the ball and calm the game. They only gave very few passes during first half.

Passes from Iniesta (nº8) and Rakitic (nº4) during 1st half

When the rojiblancos had the ball, they tried to find the head of Raul García to install themselves quickly into Barça's half. 

Raul García was the first pass option.

Passes from Oblak.

On some occasions Atleti did manage to use slower attacks, and the azulgranas suffered a lot.

FC Barcelona were very weak during positional defence.

The culés defended with eight men and left the front three as a constant threat to Oblak 's goal.

Messi and Suárez coordinated their moves to create free space for an astonishing Neymar. The Brazilian was given several options and did not fail, scoring two goals and driving the defenders crazy.

FC Barcelona front three well coordinated.

Messi, Suárez and Neymar used space cleverly.

Messi stayed wide open on the right and Suarez went there as well. Neymar occupied the center. This can be seen on the high amount of attacks on the right flank and the build up of the first and third goals.

% of FC Barcelona attacks during 1st half.

1st Barcelona goal sequence.

3rd Barcelona goal sequence.

That was 2-3 at halftime and the game ended there. Frustrated by the results, Neymar skills and the ref - they claimed for a penalty seconds before Barcelona's third goal - confusion happened when both teams left the pitch. It continued during halftime and Gabi got sent off.

With numerical superiority, Barcelona dedicated the second half to keep the ball and Atleti knew that the miracle would not happen, having to score 3 goals in 45 minutes with one player less

To sum up, Barcelona survived the high pressing, could not develop positional attacks but used stunning counterattacks. When Messi, Suárez and Neymar are given space, they look like unstoppable.
But the blaugrana's positional defense looks weak. Will this balance be enough in the future ? Time will tell.

28th January 2015.

Vicente Calderón.

2 tie of Spanish King's Cup Quarterfinals.

Atlético de Madrid 2 - 3 FC Barcelona (Torres min.1, Neymar min.8 , Raúl García (penalty) min.29; Miranda (own goal) min.37, Neymar min. 40)

Header picture: www.elcomercio.pe