Apart from the usual pre-game public banter both Barcelona and Espanyol dish out to their rivals, there was no special hype surrounding the Catalan derby this time around. Still, there is no love lost when it comes to these two neighbours. Espanyol, in general, don’t enjoy trips to the Camp Nou, and this game proved to be no different.
Even though it did take Barcelona quite a while to breach the well-structured Espanyol defence, there was little threat coming from the other side to cause the hosts any real danger or provide the visitors with any hope of claiming the spoils in the Catalan capital.
This tactical analysis will use statistics to determine how yet another clash of the Catalan clubs went in favour of Barcelona and left Espanyol and Rubi wanting a lot more than they got.
Lineups
Barcelona (4-3-3)
Starting XI: Ter Stegen Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba Rakitić, Busquets, Arthur Messi, Suarez, Coutinho
Bench: Iñaki Peña, Umtiti, Vidal, Aleñá, Sergi, Boateng, Malcom
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Espanyol (5-3-2)
Starting XI: Diego López Rosales, Lluís López, Naldo, Hermoso, Pedrosa Melendo, Víctor Sánchez, Marc Roca, Granero Borja
Bench: Jiménez, Dídac, Javi López, Alfa Semedo, Hernán Pérez, Sergio García, Wu Lei
Coach: Rubi
Barcelona’s setup
The international break is finally over, and while some players got to rest up and prepare for the final rounds of La Liga, some did not get that luxury. Still, Ernesto Valverde decided to go for the safe option and opted to field an XI that closely resembled his strongest lineup.
Nelson Semedo was the only change in the backline as he and Jordi Alba manned the flanks while the centre-back pairing consisted out of Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet. Of course, Marc-Andre ter Stegen was between the sticks.
Apart from Philippe Coutinho sti
Subscribe To TFA To Unlock All Posts - Free 7 Day Trial
Try TFA Free For 7 Days
Gain access to all of TFA's premium contents.More than 12,000+ articles.
