La Liga 2019/20: Barcelona vs Getafe – tactical analysis

Barcelona hosted Getafe at the Camp Nou last weekend. Barcelona are in a transition period tactically under Quique Setien who has taken over since January. They contest for the top spot in the La Liga table standing just below Real Madrid. Getafe have had a strong run this season standing in third place, which made this fixture nothing short of interesting and challenging for both teams.

Barcelona have seen a shift in tactics under Setien opting for a much more possession-based game than what they played under Valverde. This shift has come at a cost of mistakes that has seen them struggle at times. Setien’s high risk, high reward style of play is something the young players and the veterans are still adapting to. Barcelona managed to win 2-1 over Getafe, and although their performance was impressive, the scoreline was very close and the match could have swung either way. In this tactical analysis, we will see how both teams played each other out.

Lineups

If we had to summarise the analysis of both teams, it’s fair to say that Barcelona looked to defend big spaces and attack small spaces, while Getafe pursued the contrary strategy – to attack big spaces and defend small spaces.

Barcelona opted to play in their regular 4-3-3 formation which has worked out well in the last few games. The 4-3-3 involved plenty of positional rotations and favoured a high-possession style of play.

Getafe looked to defend in a 4-4-2 with intense pressing to close the spaces in the middle third. They also pushed the defensive line quite high closing the spaces for Barcelona to play their short passes.