Cancingo

Barcelona vs Atlético de Madrid: A Tactical Analysis

THREAD! 

Barça started the game in a 4-3-3 formation, with Fermin and Rapa as touchline wingers, and Balde and Koundé positioned closely between them. However, the dynamics on each side were very different 

When the ball was on the left, the intention was to get the ball to Pedri in the best possible position, between the lines in the half-space area. They used Fermin and Balde to widen the pitch so that Pedri could exploit the gaps that were created. 



To help Pedri, Gavi often ran alongside Lewa to provide himself as an option and create small 2 vs 2 situations, ensuring that Pedri wouldn't be isolated with just Lewa as an option when he received the ball. This is exactly how our first goal was scored.


Another benefit of this setup was that it made our counter-pressing much easier to sustain. Since Balde was deeper, almost like an extra center-back, he had a clearer vision to chase the second balls and could anticipate them more effectively.



Also, since Balde was positioned deeper, it allowed the center-backs to focus on defending the middle, making it very compact and suffocating for the opposition, as the center-backs only needed to concentrate on positioning themselves centrally.



On the right, however, the dynamics were a lot simpler. A basic triangle formed between Raphinha, Koundé, and Gavi. They would either play through the half-space, or one of Gavi or Koundé would run into the half-space to generate space inside for Raphinha to exploit. With his quick steps and crossing, Raphinha executed this role well.

Then, the one who did not make the run would stay deep and recover any ball losses. Fermin would also join Lewa in the box to add extra box presence.

What helped a lot was that Atlético Madrid was not very risky with their build-up, often just kicking it long and hoping to catch us on the counter, which we managed to minimize effectively. However, our press was actually quite passive; the team was more than happy to drop back

The team tried to focus more on timing and pressing when the moment was right, rather than on intensity. They wanted to be secure defensively, and this often worked well since Atlético were not very brave. Overall, we dominated the first half



The second half, however, was a different story. Atlético became much braver on the ball and was willing to play around Barça's passive front line, giving them more possession. Barça still maintained their passive pressing.



Focusing more on timing and pressing correctly rather than on pure intensity meant that even though Atlético started competing more, the team still dealt with it well. The big issue for Atlético, however, is that while being braver on the ball allowed them to compete more,

It also gave us many more chances to go on the transition when we won the ball back. Our team started to prioritize transitions rather than ball retention, and it worked out very well. However, we did not finish our chances to close out the game.



This is typically how the game went into the early stages of the second half. We allowed Atlético to build up and then go on transition. We did not force them into a settled block like we did in the first half, focusing on generating the best chances to end the game.

The only issue is that when you don't finish, you give Atlético more chances to come up with the correct build-up sequence to get back into the game, and that's what happened. Barça decided to press, and a bit of a mess occurred and luck going against us. 

After this goal, both teams remained aggressive, and again we focused on transitions. Notice here how fast and direct we played, we not force Atlético into a block. In the first half, it was because Atlético wanted to be in a block.



In the later stages of the game, around the 80th minute and beyond, Atlético decided to drop into a block and try to grind out the result, relying on Sørloth to win the ball high up the pitch.

The main issue, however, was that we no longer attacked with the same structure as we did in the first half. Our approach became much more chaotic and random, which made our attack unpredictable but also resulted in more ball losses.

We became too desperate and lost patience. Additionally, the team started getting really tired at this point, so not everyone was in sync as they had been in the first half, especially with the subs.

There's not a lot that can be said about the last goal—poor decision from Raphinha, but the team was tired. However, it's important to note that we need to do more tactical fouls. Balde needs to be fouling the player here if he's too tired.  

