Simeone's Key Tactical Move vs Barça
How to Nullify a Man-To-Man High Press and The Use of Third Man Runs
Let me start by saying that I don't think Barça's current problems are limited to tactical aspects. Playing a back 3 or 4, changing 2 or 3 players from the starting line-up, positioning someone 5 meters higher or wider... won’t solve the situation.
IMHO, it's a mix of several non-tactical factors : a lack of clear ideas, also the fear induced by the absence of leadership on the pitch and the current sporting/institutional crisis, all of it materializing in a mental block !
Piqué himself said it in the post-game interview :
"We had the feeling that even if the game had lasted 3 hours we wouldn't have scored".
This being said, let's comment the key tactical move of this game, out of intellectual curiosity and for the sake of discussion.
MAN TO MAN HIGH PRESSURE
Koeman used a 4-3-3 structure and went for a man-to-man high press. I'm not sure it was the right plan against players known for being physically superior to most teams in Spain/Europe. Not only are Llorente, Lemar, De Paul & Carrasco faster than most of Barça's midfielders, they have enough stamina to repeat those 20 meters sprints during 90 minutes. There was a very low probability that Coutinho, Busquets & Nico would have kept up with such an intensity…
And as Atletico’s players moved up & down, left & right, they attracted their markers out of position, disorganized and stretched Barça's block, creating large distances between players.
JOAO FELIX’ KEY ROLE
That’s exactly what the portuguese forward did. Most of his interventions were down the left side, close to the halfway line.
By dropping deep and/or wide, Joao Felix got Araujo out of position times & times again, while Suarez occupied Piqué, thus creating spaces for Lemar & De Paul to run into. IMHO this was Simeone’s key move.
This move could be seen at the start of the sequence that led to Atletico de Madrid’s first goal :
And this is the start of the sequence that led to their 2nd goal. In the man-to-man pressing context described above, it just needs 1 player losing the 1v1 duel or a split second of indecision (Araujo letting Felix confortably receive and turn and pass to Lemar), for acres of spaces to appear.
THIRD MAN RUNS
Isn't it ironic that Atlético Madrid created several goal chances by using a combination that Barça is better known for ?
Third man runs are so difficult to control : the defending team’s attention is naturally attracted by the movement of the ball in real time, while the attacking team is already thinking one move ahead. The pivot player is just a transit point used to confuse/attract the opponent, while the intended recipient is rushing into the space that really matters.
See the combination between Felix, Suarez & Lemar leading to Atletico’s first goal :
Atletico’s players reproduced this specific combination (third man runs) in several instances during this game :
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Visca el Barça 💪🏾 🔵 🔴
Woow wat a piece man