After pushing city rivals Espanyol to relegation with a 1-0 win, Barcelona travelled to José Zorrilla Stadium to face Real Valladolid on round 35 of La Liga. Former Real Madrid star Ronaldos club, Real Valladolid came in to this fixture following a 2-1 loss at Mestalla against Valencia. Although Barcelona eventually came out as the winners with an Arturo Vidal goal, Quique Setiéns side showed some promise in the first half only to expose their existing problems in the second.
In this tactical analysis, we will look at how the teams lined up and how Barcelonas fast-paced build-up in the first half helped them excel. Similarly, well do an analysis of Real Valladolids build-up tactics and why they found it comfortable to attack and advance forward in the second half.
Line-ups
The home side, under Sergio González Soriano, initially lined-up in a 4-3-1-2, which later was adopted into a 4-3-3. Barcelona academy graduate Jordi Masip started in goal, covered by Raúl García, Javi Sánchez, Kiko Olivas, and Javi Moyano as the back four. Rubén Alcaraz, Joaquín Fernández Moreno, Fede San Emeterio started on the mid-field diamond with Kike Pérez. The front-two were Óscar Plano and Sergi Guardiola, taking on Barcelonas defence.
Interestingly, Barcelona started with a 3-5-2, a formation that was frequent in Quique Setiéns early days at the Camp Nou. With full-backs Nelson Semedo and Jordi Alba offered an advanced initial role, youngster Riqui Puig started in alongside Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal in the midfield. Sergi Roberto supported Clement Lenglet and Gerard Piqué to complete the back-three. Antoine Griezmann started the match alongside Lionel Messi to trouble the Valladolid defence.
Barcelonas build-up
With a 3-5-2 formation in operation, Barcelona looked to make their long-standing problem of slow transitions fade away. Barcelona extensively used Roberto and Lenglet to supply passes to advanced wing-backs and create attack from wide areas. As we can see here, Barcelona are directed to get narrower towards the front line and wider in midfield, aiming to operate from wide and then get the ball to narrow forwards.
