MY TAKE ON THE MADRID DERBY .

real madrid played ath mad in the madrid derby . when two big teams play then you need to some great intricate play's .great understanding of the situation and most importantly very good technical ability . even though there was a result the game was a stale one . how many clear chances did both teams created . it is expected that when two big team play then they try not to over commit . real started the game with 4-5-1 while ath mad started the game with their usual 4-4-2 formation . the game wasnt that great it was an ordinary affair .
i think its time ath mad need to find somebody and simieone's should move on . while i am critical of simeone i dont think very great about zidane . the reason being just look at the number of chances created by real in open play . while playing the game there are small things that make a lot of difference . like when should go solo or when should pass  .the commentators used a good phrase for it going down the blind alley and at times morrata and certain ath mad players were doing that and that needs to change. now ath mad like to sit back and hit on the counter . they like to play deep and this invites a lot of trouble because when you are playing deep and compact you can be conceding the possession as well as corners . thats what happened in the first 20min . real started the game with isco and valverde in the wide positions . real especially on the right side were doing good progress in taking the ball upfield but there are small things that need to be corrected . first thing when you had play then you need to have a good reading of your position(i.e you need to know whether you can have time on the ball ,can you do a half turn , which player is guarding you and many things .) there were two instances in particular where on i felt that the players made the wrong decisions . first off ramos who missed a shot in the box on real's corner. he should had known that he had time and space on the ball and should had taken a touch and then shot the ball .a touch makes a world of difference in football . secondly when modric ,valverde and casmeiro were moving the ball from right modric had taken the position between lines and there was no direct opponent who was guarding him . he had the time and space to make a half turn and  pass the ball.most importantly the reason i am saying this is that modric passed the ball outside to valverde but he could had passed it inside and taken the defense by surprise because that is what the team tries to do when they have the ball . another thing is real were moving the ball from wing to wing in a bid trying to find the space but how can you find the space if you dont work out a single wing . most importantly real players were trying to move ball from one flank to another in between a move and that is stupid and in that process they were conceding the possession . in the first half real were just poor they couldnt penetrate . their best chances came of corner's which they should had taken. 
ath mad likes to play on the counter and the reason i am critical of simeone is because  real were trying to press up  .but while doing so they were not that tight and  ath mad could pass the ball around . if you had seen real madrid matches then both varane and ramos dont get tight  on opposition and they were sitting allowing the opposition forward time and space on the ball. both vitolo and moratta were guilty of spending time on the ball and making poor decisions .while playing on the counter you have to seize the moment . you need to be aware at what time you need to release the ball and when to keep it . ath mad created good chances in the first half but poor decision making and solo ventures couldnt bring the chances to frutition .most importantly in football your chances double up for scoring when you keep the opposition guessing . if you go single minded that you are just going to just shoot or pass then it gets easy for the opposition to read you . the reason for this is most of the players are single minded but great players are hard to read because they can disguise their shot or pass which makes them more threatning . in the first half correa had the chance to pass the ball instead of taking shot then he would had made  himself more threatning and that would the team  overall .
the game changed in the second half .zidane made two substitutions he bought two wide players thinking that he didnt had speed on the wings . now you are lauded if you win and you are criticized ifyour move fail . in the whole match madrid created one good move when vinicius and mendy combined on the left wing and  vinicius released mendy behind the back four  . before that substitution had happened and lamar was drafted on the left wing while correa was sent forward to partner vitolo . untill that moment mendy had crossed some good balls in the first half . most importantly ath were caught napping and they didnt thought that real could muster that move . most importantly the back four fell asleep . since Vrsaljko was played out in the move felipe had to move to cover Vrsaljko's space . this led to entire defense moving and in that they lost benzema . the other thing was compared to other times ath mad were playing with a high defensive line which gave mendy the space between back four and the goalkeeper to cross the ball which led to real's goal .
the one player that impressed me the most was casmeiro . he performed his defensive role astutely and didnt let that ath mad work those traingles and his defensive work was the result that real dominated in the second half . he is not known for his offensive role but let me tell you he has a good reading of the game on that as well . in the first half he crossed a peach of a ball . he absolutely produced a great ball which should had  been read by benzema . a striker should a read as to where his team mates can cross the ball and should try to get there . casmeiro crossed the ball where the goal couldnt come and the back four couldnt  get there . benzema had the chance had he read casmeiro's intentions and tried to get there . this is what is called jellying where on teammates read other and it produces great football .
my criticism of simeone's is because when you make the adjustment then you should try play a different game . he replaced moratta trying to match real man for man . lemar is not correa who can run behind defense .he plays different game .so he has to make adjustments to the game plan as to how will now operate when they have the ball . most importantly even when real made the changes they didnt change the shape and had simeone tried to calm his troops he could have had something from the game . ath mad's offense just fell apart in the second half and simeone has to be held for the loss .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN VALENCIA VS BARCELONA

barcelona played valencia in the la liga on saturday .earlier barcelona had sacked their coach valverde and installed new coach . so it was worth watching as to what tactics he deploys . the criticism faced by valverde was that when things start to go against the team . he is not able to change things  . the thing is that barcelona lost but all the focus in on the offense as to what barca does in the opposition half . the other half doesnt gets the proper attention which is very much required . even if barcelona had been failing to score but would had defended properly then they would had drawn games . the main problem for barcelona is not their offense but their defense . they dont have a natural leader at the back which is very much required by any great team who would organise things for them . just look at liverpool and the success they are having after signing van dyke . pique is world cup winning player and he is the one of the most senior most player at the club and has that experience but at times it seems that he is the problem who has lost reading of the game and makes all the wrong decisions . what  barcelona are missing is a leader like pique at the back who can do all the organising . another thing is man utd are right of now looking for a new coach and the one name that i would throw in the ring is that of the new valencia coach celades who has steadied the ship . i would certainly like him to be considered . 
barcelona started the game with 4-3-3 formation while valencia started with 4-4-2 formation . the commentrators while commenting rightly pointed that there was no difference between valverde's style and stein's style . now the main thing that needs to be considered is can barcelona look past messi . who is making the tactical decisions because the amount of ball that he is seeing is good and bad for the team . good this way that he is the best ball player in the world and bad this way that he has slowed down and stopping him means that you are effectively stopping the team . another thing is that if you are playing other players you have to get them involved in the game . the trouble with valverde and even with stein is that they are not just able to devise a proper offense where on all the players see equal amount of the all and all the front players have equal chance and not just messi . barcelona were passing but the passing looked pedestrian and laborious . barca's offense looked predictable and valencia looked comfortable while defending and they knew when to press and when to sit back and absorb the pressure .  if you looked at the offense then it is all messi . how of the ball was seen by griezman . the team will only function well when it plays as a team . in the first half griezman hardly saw the ball and even if saw it then his only work was to pass it back to messi . i think messi too will benefit if he can gel these players and create offense not ony exclusive messi .
the trouble is not messi but its pque . barcelona conceded the first penalty in the first half which was saved but before that counter attack barca faced another counter attack and pique's stupidity was seen evident in that one . valencia tried to release one of the front four behind the barca back four with ball over the top .now when you coach defense it is coached that he shouldnt even head the ball in the middle so that the opposition has a chance . he should either head it wide or try to clear it . pique headed the ball but instead of clearing he headed right in front of the back four . this kind of stupidity is what is costing barca . secondly valverde had a fallout with busquestus .particularly this season and he had dropped him in some matches . the reason i think valverde must be unhappy is that busquestus doesnt maintains his positional discipline and he should be one who should try to stop the counter but he seems to fail in those attempts . valencia's second goal is the prime example of busquestus incompetence and that doesnt gets highlighted which is the main reason why barcelona are struggling . 
valecia played the game very nicely . they didnt went chasing and most importantly coquelin who much criticized at arsenal ( for no reason although  he is good player ) and kongdobia who flopped at inter played a very good game . they protected their back four very nicely and they moved the ball very nicely . the most worrying thing about barca were not able to stop valencia in the tracks.
on the other note man utd is in the news and they are going to sign bruno fernandes but is he the answer then certainly not . most importantly they should be looking for napoli's allan and zalensky or even emre can or somebody better . last but not the least but if somebody is criticizing fred of man utd then he is stupid. he is only guy in the team who giving the best performance in that team and should be lauded than criticized .

MY TAKE ON THE BARCELONA VS INTER MILAN GAME .

inter milan played barcelona at home . this is the first of the two test that conte's side had this week . before i write the article let me tell you . in football when sir alex fergusson was the man utd manager his famous quote used to be that football is played for 90 min . you have to plan according to the halves . you cannot play with the same tempo all throughout the game and you need to plan the moves as the game progresses .  even though its a team game but individuals make the team . with every passing minute in the game you get tired and that affects your intensity,concentration, relex and even your decision making since these are all related . for the very first half i thought that what conte's 2016 italian team did with the spanish team . they played a wonderful counter attacking football and nullified the opposition and were brave on possession .while he aced the first half he should had read the second half and should have had a plan b this is where he was and  is  lacking . he should had read in the second half that barcelona will be changing things . they will get more aggressive and try things differently . while at the same time his players which were playing superbly in the first half will be able to play the same way in the second half . he should have got more italian and just try to make things difficult for barcelona . then even when the game was equalised he should have had taken that and should had tried to win the game and should had taken the draw . this first half performance was enough for him to win the game mentally and would had given him the upper hand in the second encounter which would be very interesting one .

barcelona started the game with what you call the best possible 11 that they can put on the pitch with their best formation . while conte started with his pet 3-5-2 formation . first off i dont know as to how barca blaugranes has got into my google feed but in the first half conte's team played the best counter attacking football and valverde just didnt had no answer for it . now its in the barca dna to go and press while the time is gone . now most of the  teams ( except the english players that too who play in the premier league ) are good in one and one situations . they move the ball quickly and the time to hard press had passed . the trouble with barcelona is that barcelona are still in this middle limbo as to what to do when they loose the ball . should they go and press and try to win possession or just sit back and allow the time and possession on the ball . this thing was boon for inter milan and conte had prepared his team for that . this is perfect example of how you should move the ball . they moved the ball inside and outside with midfielders supporting the wide players perfectly in moving the ball . most importantly they choose to take it to move the ball from back to front right from the goal keeper who was calm even in press and moved the ball very nicely . 

now the things to notice in the first half was barcelona were just too slow in their interplay . i had said this many a times this barca side just searches for messi to do everything . barceloan always like to move from back to front and it wasnt just that inter were starting very deep . they started with a high line trying to win the ball high but never overdoing thing and move back as the ball moved up . barcelona were slow in build and they just couldnt take advantage of the high line that inter were holding initially because the distance between front line and back line was less than 25 yards and barcelona just couldnt do that  .i think conte must had watched the dortmund-barca game and he would based his tactics on that . inter were playing deep and they just couldnt play a fast tempo game because that would had isolated sanchez and martinez and barcelona could had contain them . so inter had to build up with small passes but with good tempo and counter barca . in the first half you can read the barca's play and that meant that inter could adjust themselves to the play or even press them . barcelona were just too slow in the first half .

the trouble with dropping too deep is that if you loose possession then it can come to bite back your ass because ur players are in opposite momentum and opposition can find the spaces to hit you . barcelona just couldnt even do that in the first half . but in all of the match inter played a deep line and this has problems because even if you are protecting the box it just creates chances just beyond the box and this was always the trouble for inter .

the second half started somehow like the first half for the first 10 min but then you start to get tired and you cannot play the same style for 90 min .in the second half barcelona upped the tempo messi started to take control of the game and most importantly valverde had to change the things . he changed the shape . he subbed busqeustus and asked de jong and arthur  move in front of the back four while vidal was drafted just behind suarez . now just as the second half progressed the hard work that inter did in the first half had started to take the toll . they were on their toes in the first half and were eager to close down . more importantly barcelona were playing on a counter counter system where on they were eager the take the ball up very quickly and that created the chance for suarez between the lines . as i had already said that when you drop too deep it creates chances around the box . i would say this was suarez's brilliance because he took the volley shot . had the tried to take a touch and shoot then he would had been closed down but he realised the importance of the moment and took the shot . 

conte then had realised the inter were lite in front the back five and barcelona were trying to take advantage of it . secondly sanchez had run full steam so he needed to be subbed . so he subbed gagliardini for sanchez and changed the shape from 5-3-2 to 5-4-1 . this fell in barcelona's hands as inter couldnt bring players forward quickly on the counter attack . secondly barcelona having equalized thought that they could get something out of the game . they subbed dembele for griezman who is more direct than griezman . this pushed inter more deeper . the second was all brilliance by suarez who used goidin's momentum against him messi passed the ball to suarez and suarez's first touch took the ball past godin who was coming to close him down . barca could score because again inter were lost the possession in the middle of the park and barca countered .

now again barca blagurana's had severly criticized valverde for his team's first half performance . to be honest they are correct . valerde was seen dropping on his one knee and seemed clueless as to what was happening and how his team getting outplayed . he was mute on the sidelines and was'nt passing a single instruction . now the coaches can spot things from the sidelines which the player cannot see in the flow of the game . let me give you an example . in the first half inter's middle three were againt barca's middle three of which brozovic was coming out of his natural position to press busquestus . now the coaches job is to spot the gaps in the opponents formation and he should ask his team to try to exploit it . he can ask the team to play to play at a certain tempo depending on the situation in the game . now the brozovic's example is given because he coming out of his natural position which is quite much . he coming beyond 10 to 15 yards and that length needs to be exploited .  any anamoly in the formation of the opposition is to be exploited and that is what the coaches job is . this is where valverde was lacking and first half performance wasnt helping . it was good that barca won the game or else there may be voices asking for valverde's head.

MY TAKE ON THE MADRID DERBY

ath mad played real madrid in the madrid derby . before i write about the game let me tell you before tactics comes technique . if you are not technically proficient then the tactics go out of the window .there are littl things in football that make a whole lot of differnce on the pitch  for far  too long i had been watching football that too professional football where these so called footballers are paid figures which any simple human being can only dream off . but these so called footballers make such stupid technical mistakes that any good football coach would run out on the pitch and kick his ass . why these players play ball from the wrong side of the foot. just play normal side foot pass . think when you pass . pass the ball with accurate weight on the ball . unless you are doing an aerial pass keep the ball on the floo because it is easy to control on the floor . dont pass a bouncy pass . there is a way to open the defense and there is a way to defend . your anticipation , game reading makes a lot of difference in the game . 
now the game started with ath playing in their favourite 4-4-2 formation while real started with 4-3-3 formation . real bought valverde alongside kroos and casmeiro . its very know as to how ath mad play . they play deep and like to play on the counter attack . now joao felix is playing with costa upfront . there is reason for his mention here . the commentators were calling this game a chess match . either these commentators were obviously  must just amteurs chess players but the game was boring . most importantly both the teams couldnt a decent spell of football or show something good where on i can say that any one of them deserved to have win in this game .
the real reason real are struggling this season is because is first off they are playing too deep secondly their midfield is too slow and is not able to read the game properly . thirdly varane are ramos are dropping too deep allowing the opposition time and space between the lines which is the reason for trouble . just look at the goals against PSG. there is no cohesion on defense when real loose the ball . now both these coaches are criticized that there teams not that pleasing to the eye and most importantly there seems no improvisations by the coaches and they are expecting their players to do something special instead of them taking sessions where on they are taught as to how to read the defense and how they approach to unlock it . just look at the number of chances created in the game and the interplay . not more two chance were created by either side . 
real started with three upfront . but these upfront were flat out . hazard was on the left while bale on the right . i think that the idea of playing revers wingers needs to be corrected. why not at times go orthodox . the reason why zidane must be criticized is because real were just insipid in their offense . hazard and bale both stayed wide and the side dependent on their ability to beat their opposing number but not some creative offense . secondly when the ball was on the either side of the field the opposing number didnt try to cut in but instead they stayed . this meant that real were light in the box because there was only benzema in the box and at times when benzema would come out wide there would be no one in the box . thirdly real were trying to slow down the game which plays in the hands of the ath . because they can adjust themselves and stop real's moves . the only chance real had was cross from the left when only one time bale cut inside . the other chance was created by modric for himself and the move was started by himself and he combined with bale for the chance .
it is frustrating when you are asking somebody to do a job and if he fails to do it then i think you get pissed off and i can feel what simeone must had felt when costa lost the ball time and again . he is playing up front and his first touch needs to be good . he cannot loose the ball . but at the same time i would criticize simeone for his handling off joao felix . the boy is still young . he has a huge price on his head but then the coach needs to take blame as well . he needs to teach him as to how he needs to take positions and what he needs to do . everytime he has the ball there is something special expected off him . first off the team on counter attack so he has to adjust to style of play . i think there is nothing to show for simeone and that is bad because they didnt had a shot at goal to show .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN AC MILAN VS INTER MILAN

ac milan played inter at the san siro. both the milan teams are having new coaches and  what changes they have made to the teams and what formations do they use and how do they approach the game was worth noting . inter has conte while milan has giampolo .to be honest while one of the milan ( inter ) teams future looks  bright because they know what they need to do when they have the ball .while ac milans future doesnt looks  that good for me inter's future looks decent under conte . italian are supposed to be the most tactical teams in the footballing world . but while being tactical they do forget that football is a team game and there are other factors that too are important in the outcome of the game . giampolo had forgetten that while tactics are impotant but there are other factors like decision making , cohesion and understanding the situation is very important . the most important is you should have a plan a when you have the and then you go on improvising because its a constant chess game . inter had a clear plan as to what they wanted to do when they have the ball . i was struggling to find as to what they are going to do with the ball .
inter started the game with 3-5-2 formation while . ac milan started with 4-3-1-2 formation . ac milan were trying to play out of the back . now that a stupidity if dont have a clear approach as to what do you want to do when the opposition come on pressing you . most importantly you cannot spend time on the ball and allow the opposition to close you down . if you are not able to move the properly and most importantly if you are not able to bring the whole team into play and take the ball from back to front quickly then playing out from the back can come you and bite back in the backside . ac milan's tactics were just baffling me . most importantly they were taking the ball 5 yards front and 10 yards back . what was the team trying to do when they had the ball was unknown . ac milan had piatek and leao up front with suso just behind them . going forward what were ac' s  tactics were just confusing . first off suso is the best player in the side and the offense need to revlove around him . but at the same time suso needs to understand that he needs to use the players around him . he needs to understand the play as well as the opposition's formation and work his way through the maze that is oppositions formation . giampolo has his work cut out if needs to get better because leao was told to  drift in the space between right wing back and the centre back . but this where the coaching is needed and this is evident from ansu fati who has that maturity as to when to take on the opposite number and when to be conservative . leao wanted to take on godin every time he had the ball . there is moment for everything in football and decision making is a big part in football .
another thing that i noticed was that giampolo was very late to notice things . when the match started milan had two up top and suso was behind them . when ac milan lost the ball biaglia, kesse and chalangolu would form the middle three in front of the back four which would mean that they would be light in the wide areas . this was not observed by giampolo till 20  min and ac milan kept on losing the possession because they didnt had wide players would protect their fullbacks or would look out in zones in front of the fullbacks . he then changed the shape and asked suso to be in part of the middle four . 
in the match giampolo changed the formation three times . changing formations doesnt makes any difference unless and untill you dont have that necessary cohesion in the team . why do you change the formation is because you need to create new angles and explore new zones and try different things because your plan A wasnt working and that is why you change things . but if you dont have the necessary understanding of the play then changing things doesnt makes any difference . changing formation means you create new angles but to explore them you need to have understanding between the players and if you dont have that then the change of formation makes no sense .
conte likes to play on the counter attack . he likes his team to work hard and the basic thing is that his team has certain way to play . his offense is very well orchestrated . he likes to have a front two and likes to combine them together . plus every player in his team has a determined role and that is the sign of a well coached where the roles are very clear . they have a clear thought process as to what they need to do . the only thing was that the opposition was poor or else there are areas of concern that needs to be addressed .  some of his players(sensi an barella) need to be taught as to why they need to let the ball go and not spend time on the ball or try taking players in ne on one . his big test will come against barca and that will determine as to what his team can acheive this season . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ATH MAD VS JUVENTUS

juventus played ath mad in the ucl first match . juventus has the coach changed in the summer with sarri taking over from allegri . now the biggest threat from juventus is ronaldo but if he is not in and around the box then juventus just dont have any credible threat . sarri's team  drew a blank against fiorentina in their previous encounter . sarri likes to control possession while making short crisp passes and likes to keep the ball moving but his trouble even with his time at napoli and chelsea he was not able to bring his forward player in the offensive move . this was first credible test for sarri as ath mad are very good defensive side and opening them is a very difficult job as their organisation and discipline is very good . 
ath mad started the game with 4-4-2 formation with 4 out and out midfielders starting in the middle of the park while juventus started the game . juventus started the game with 4-4-2 formation . the reason i am saying this is because caudrado would slide back into the back four while on defense while higuian and ronaldo would stay top . juventus likes to dominate possession while ath likes to play on the counter . the trouble with ath mad is that they play deep so on the counter they have to  bring the ball way up and in that process they can be pressed and they can loose possession and the team can hit them on the counter counter . simeone realised this may throught the first half so he wanted to slow the game and asked his team to pass the ball around and push juventus back and then try to have a shot at goal . ath mad had four out and out midfielders who would move in the middle of the park so to counter it juventus had to bring all their midfieders in the middle of the park . it allowed ath mad fullbacks time and space on the ball and they could bomb forward because their natural numbers were busy in the middle of the park trying to defend spaces in front of the back four because ath mad had crowded that and had juventus not brought numbers in the middle of the park then ath mad could had been to work one of the zones and caused juventus the problem .

now here the main test was of ath mad fullbacks in particular trippier who was bought by ath mad in the summer because of his crossing ability because pochettino will tell you that on the defense trippier is a liablity. for me in this match he failed badly . had his crossing been better then he would had cause juventus a whole lot of problems . had his first touch and crossing been better then he would had caused juventus many problems because his crossing means juventus had to adjust for him and they would had looked to somebody to get to close him down which would had caused to create the gaps elsewhere and ath mad would had been able to work those . .any team requires a point of attack from where they can trouble the opposition  and from there on they need to improvise but here trippier was just letting his team down .  trippiers first touch was letting him down he is there in the team because of his crossing ability and if he is not doing that then he not doing then what is the use of such a player . second is simeone likes his team to play counter attacking but it doesnt work everytime and at times when they play a slow offensive game they need to move the ball crisply to have a better offense .

juventus two goals came on the counter rather than in the open play which sarri would had liked . ath mad had all the four midfielders inside of the park so the fullback was pushed up to counter juventus fullback which opened the space between centre backs and the fullbacks which was exploited by juventus on both the goals and both the goals came from the same side . the worry about juventus is that they are conceding on defense which is result of the zonal marking .

last but not the least if sarri needs to be a great coach then he needs to tell ronaldo that he needs him in and around the box and dont drift wide or anything because he is of no use and his potent threat is there and his team will be of good service from him if he stays just in and around the box . plus he can score a lot of goals and even have a lot of assist if just mould his game to be real no.9 rather than the no.7 he is wearing 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN DORTMUND VS BARCELONA

barca playd dortmund at  the signal iduna park . barca were without messi untill the half of this match . this is when valverde will be judged as to how he marshalls his troops . around does he base his offense . what combination he uses and what tactics does he uses . to be honest valverde has come up short in his examination without messi . with messi its very easy to base tactics . he makes things very easy he can spot runs and pick him up with a pin point pass . his sense of positioning is also very superb where on he makes available for the pass . with messi its very easy but what if he is not there . in football injuries are very common and you need to have a plan b and you need to plan that in advance . i didnt watch the ath bilbao game but barca failed to score in that game .. while in the game versus real betis griezman was the real hero . he was the one around whom all the offense was circling . he found spaces between the lines and everything flowed through him on that day and it looked as if barca have finally found the answer without messi and found a way to play without the great player . in the game against valencia it was ansu fati and de jong who stole the show . both found spaces between the lines and punished valencia for it .
the thing to see in this game was how does barcelona unlocks dortmunds defense . dortmund were not going to make this easy for them . lucien favre's team has a good discipline about them as soon as they loose the ball they organise themselves in two banks of four and most importantly both the lines work very good in tandem with each other . now it was worth seeing as to who would be star for barcelona as to who would unlock dortmund's defense . for the last two matches ansu fati was the star so he was given the ball in the final third to do something in the final third . the trouble with barca was that valverde didnt let him the full freedom to go and charge against his opposite number and try something . instead they just kept on moving the ball and trying to find the opening but dortmund were equal to the task . they defended very nicely . most importantly they kept suarez quite and didnt allow him time and space on the ball . in the first half dortmund's defense was very good and they kept barca at bay . 
dortmund played on the counter but dortmund's offense was nothing but  a lesson to all the young coaches as to how to play a floor game . dortmund kept moving the ball with short crisp passes and evaded the barca's press in their final third and pushed barca back . delaney and witsel supported their wide players and moved the ball very well . dortmund's passing was very good but there is a flaw the way they move the ball . their moves can be read and most importantly they can be pressed if the opposition can read their moves and hit them on the quick counter  . this is what bayern did to dortmund in the last season's bundesliga . in this game dortmund moved the ball very well at least guerrero was very good on the ball and his  ability and ball control was very good .  another thing with dortmund is that dortmund may be moving the ball crisply but then they are allowing the oppositon time to regroup and this makes dortmund's job difficult  since they wont find the space they desire . dortmund needs to bring some novelty in their attack and at time needs to go very direct and surprise the opponents .
the trouble with barca is with pique and the back four they are torn in the indecision as to whether they should press or should they sit back and maintain the shape and organisation and defend.  they are told to drop deep and let others come and dont get caught high on the pitch .  pique is supposed to be the organiser from the back but he is one who keeps on making mistakes and barca need a leader at the back .
in the second half messi and rakitic were introduced but the shape was the same . there was nothing new from barca . but messi has clearly lost his legs and hasnt got the pace that he had earlier in his carrier . but while he has lost his legs his game reading ability and positioning sense has improved leaps and bounds . valverde now has the headache as to how he play's messi,griezman and suarez together . compared to suarez griezman has better ability on the ball and can be a better link up player with messi .