on wednesday barcelona played PSG at nou camp . this is game which will be remembered for a long time for its epic comeback . before i write about the game let me talk about the tactics . even though each and every team game has its roots in chess about stratergy and planning but there is much difference between chess and the other team games and it is that in chess the pieces are controlled by the player . it doesnt happens in chess that one piece goes on beating two pieces in a single move or most importantly the human element that is involved in the game and that is why even when football is a team game there are heroes and there are superstars of the game who can change the game single handedly ( i hope my point is understood ) . in football a coach can only prepare and plan but the execution is out of his hands . doesnt matters as to how much he prepare but if the player losses his concentration or tries to smart as it had happened in this match then the team pays for it and that is what had happened . blaming emery for the result will be stupidity because his team had gifted goals to the opposition because of their arrogance when they could had kept things simple .
barcelona started with a suprising 3-5-1-1 formation with neymar and rafiniha as the wingbacks while mascherano returned as one of the centre backs . while psg started the game with 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 with lucas in place of di maria who wasnt fit to start and thiago silva coming back to the line up . it was a very unique formation by luis enrique but then he had a plan . while PSG were there to conserve their lead and just defend and hit back on the counter .
barca were playing two wing backs they were trying to stretch PSG and create gaps in the defense so that messi and suarez can explore it . neymar and rafiniha were trying to stretch the defense which was sitting deep in their half and trying to hit on the counter . most of the barcelona's attack was starting from neymar just like in the first leg where on he was trying to run on munier . in this leg he made the correction that he didnt tried to take munier just from his own half ( although munier and other fullback rarely came out of their own half on offense ( just once when he beat neymar and cavani hit on the crossbar on his cross ) but his starting point was way deeper in PSG's half . the middle of barca three where just behind suarez to explore any gaps if they appear in PSG's defense . while PSG were getting all the players behind the ball trying to defend and narrow the space for barcelona to explore .
there were two intriguing things that were in the game . yes the offense was starting from neymar but messi wasnt that involved in the buildup or that the offense wasnt revolving around him . you need the offense to be based around the world's best player doesnt matter where on the offense starts but messi is the best finisher, passer and creator . psg were trying to cramp messi they were not allowing him to have any time on the ball and as soon he has the ball they were trying to double or triple him up but then adjustments can be made to his game where he keeps the ball rolling and exploit the defense where they come to close him down . messi is beautiful one touch passer and he can suarez plus neymar can combine very beautifully and open opposition defenses . even though barcelona scored in the first 3 minutes still psg were able to keep them away
psg were trying to sit back and hit back on the counter but the trouble was that cavani is not very good on holding the ball and most importantly credit had to given to barcelona who pressed very crisply to deny players like veratti and matuidi time on the ball to create any problem .
the last but the most important thing as to why i had written this post . barcelona's attack were starting from neymar and rafiniha . now both munier and kuruzawa were coming out of the defense and stretching the defense . while both thiago and marquinihos were not ready to come out of their positions and cover munier . instead they were staying in their position because they feared that if they leave their position then it may be exploited by barcelona because messi was there in the centre and he can exploit that plus suarez who may not have the height but takes very good positions to create chances for himself in the box . munier was getting out of the defense so that neymar should get a hearstart and he come running on him and that would be difficult to stop . instead why not stay in the back four and stay compact and here what i am suggesting . psg should had just stayed compact and let barcelona have that space on the flank and instead ask them to open you up . had munier stayed just little bit deep then marquinihos could had been able to cover him up and neymar wouldnt had the space to run on him and cause that havoc that he was able . i dont think suarez was going to beat thiago or marquinihos in the air for more that once .
another thing is that whoever plays football knows that any player when he coming dribbiling on you you can show which way you want him to go so that the defense can dictate the terms . the player who is dribbining the ball for him it is very difficult to change the space in mid term and can loose the possession easily . munier should had just invited neymar to come on him . neymar was going to beat in the pace and trickery and that was evident and so defenders who knows these they invite the player to come and dribble him our rather than just get into foot war with him . the second thing that would had happened is that barca would had little space to explore and they would had got more frustrated which would had created problem for them instead for PSG . i wished PSG should had just parked the bust just like chelsea did against barca in 2012 when they won the european championship and hit barca when the pressing just becomes slow in the second half . i am trying to explain this in the figures as to how had munier and kuruzawa had dropped a little bit deeper allowing barca space on the flank but at the same time denying them space between them and centre backs which was getting exploited time and time again by neymar in the match . ( please look at the graphics in which i had tried to explain ) .
even though barcelona had made the comeback but the question still remains about barcelona's offense for me and messi's role in that and if you had read my post on ath mad match then i had said the same and enrique needs to sort things out to get the best out of the season .
barcelona started with a suprising 3-5-1-1 formation with neymar and rafiniha as the wingbacks while mascherano returned as one of the centre backs . while psg started the game with 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 with lucas in place of di maria who wasnt fit to start and thiago silva coming back to the line up . it was a very unique formation by luis enrique but then he had a plan . while PSG were there to conserve their lead and just defend and hit back on the counter .
barca were playing two wing backs they were trying to stretch PSG and create gaps in the defense so that messi and suarez can explore it . neymar and rafiniha were trying to stretch the defense which was sitting deep in their half and trying to hit on the counter . most of the barcelona's attack was starting from neymar just like in the first leg where on he was trying to run on munier . in this leg he made the correction that he didnt tried to take munier just from his own half ( although munier and other fullback rarely came out of their own half on offense ( just once when he beat neymar and cavani hit on the crossbar on his cross ) but his starting point was way deeper in PSG's half . the middle of barca three where just behind suarez to explore any gaps if they appear in PSG's defense . while PSG were getting all the players behind the ball trying to defend and narrow the space for barcelona to explore .
there were two intriguing things that were in the game . yes the offense was starting from neymar but messi wasnt that involved in the buildup or that the offense wasnt revolving around him . you need the offense to be based around the world's best player doesnt matter where on the offense starts but messi is the best finisher, passer and creator . psg were trying to cramp messi they were not allowing him to have any time on the ball and as soon he has the ball they were trying to double or triple him up but then adjustments can be made to his game where he keeps the ball rolling and exploit the defense where they come to close him down . messi is beautiful one touch passer and he can suarez plus neymar can combine very beautifully and open opposition defenses . even though barcelona scored in the first 3 minutes still psg were able to keep them away
psg were trying to sit back and hit back on the counter but the trouble was that cavani is not very good on holding the ball and most importantly credit had to given to barcelona who pressed very crisply to deny players like veratti and matuidi time on the ball to create any problem .
the last but the most important thing as to why i had written this post . barcelona's attack were starting from neymar and rafiniha . now both munier and kuruzawa were coming out of the defense and stretching the defense . while both thiago and marquinihos were not ready to come out of their positions and cover munier . instead they were staying in their position because they feared that if they leave their position then it may be exploited by barcelona because messi was there in the centre and he can exploit that plus suarez who may not have the height but takes very good positions to create chances for himself in the box . munier was getting out of the defense so that neymar should get a hearstart and he come running on him and that would be difficult to stop . instead why not stay in the back four and stay compact and here what i am suggesting . psg should had just stayed compact and let barcelona have that space on the flank and instead ask them to open you up . had munier stayed just little bit deep then marquinihos could had been able to cover him up and neymar wouldnt had the space to run on him and cause that havoc that he was able . i dont think suarez was going to beat thiago or marquinihos in the air for more that once .
another thing is that whoever plays football knows that any player when he coming dribbiling on you you can show which way you want him to go so that the defense can dictate the terms . the player who is dribbining the ball for him it is very difficult to change the space in mid term and can loose the possession easily . munier should had just invited neymar to come on him . neymar was going to beat in the pace and trickery and that was evident and so defenders who knows these they invite the player to come and dribble him our rather than just get into foot war with him . the second thing that would had happened is that barca would had little space to explore and they would had got more frustrated which would had created problem for them instead for PSG . i wished PSG should had just parked the bust just like chelsea did against barca in 2012 when they won the european championship and hit barca when the pressing just becomes slow in the second half . i am trying to explain this in the figures as to how had munier and kuruzawa had dropped a little bit deeper allowing barca space on the flank but at the same time denying them space between them and centre backs which was getting exploited time and time again by neymar in the match . ( please look at the graphics in which i had tried to explain ) .
even though barcelona had made the comeback but the question still remains about barcelona's offense for me and messi's role in that and if you had read my post on ath mad match then i had said the same and enrique needs to sort things out to get the best out of the season .
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