La Liga 2019/20: Getafé vs Barcelona – Tactical Analysis

On Saturday evening, Getafé welcomed the defending champions FC Barcelona to their home stadium Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. The home side have had a very average start to the season, only securing one win and four draws in the first seven La Liga matches. Playing against a side who they haven’t been at the victory end for a while, there were doubts that José Bordalás’s side would turn things around this time.

Meanwhile, Barcelona haven’t had the best start to the season as they would have hoped. Losing points against sides such as Osasuna or Granada made their journey of defending the title more difficult during the first stage. Still, they were able to secure all three points at the end of the day through two goals by Luis Suárez and Juníor Firpo.

This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Getafé. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will identify the key points that helped Ernesto Valverde’s tactics secure a comfortable win over José Bordalás’ tactics.

Lineups

Getafé approached this match with their usual 4-4-2 formation and made one change to the side that drew against Valencia. Centre-back Leandro Cabrera was rested after their trip to the Mestalla, with former Villarreal defender Bruno González stepped into his place. The home side were again without the service of Amath Ndiaye and Vitorino Antunes as they were still recovering from their injuries.

While Jorge Molina was paired up alongside Jaime Mata as the two strikers the last time they were out, Bordalás this time opted for a change as Ángel Rodríguez filled in Molina’s position. Although winger Marc Cucurella was loaned from Barcelona, no clause prevented him from playing against his parent club. Therefore, he became the first choice on the left-hand side as he provided width alongside wing-back Allan Nyom.

For Barcelona, they lined up in their familiar 4-1-2-3 formation with Gerard Piqué and Clément Lenglet paired up as two centre-backs. Although winger Ousmane Dembélé made his recovery from a hamstring problem against Villarreal, he wasn’t registered for the match and was forced to watch the game from the stands.

Another key player who also missed out was Lionel Messi as his likeliness of featuring in this match wasn’t so high before the team’s trip to Getafé. Problems with foot and hamstring injuries also kept Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba on the sidelines respectively. Therefore, Júnior Firpo was chosen to fill in the Spanish left-back’s position eventually.

Getafés style of play

After gaining success with Getafé last season, it’s no surprise to see Bordalás continue to employ similar principles to their tactics this season. One of the most noticeable tactical points from their style was forming a tight defensive juggernaut when out of possession. The players were required to be disciplined and stuck to the shape during most of the times as this would limit the space that Barcelona could capitalise.

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