Barcelona are yet another step closer to clinching the La Liga throne once again. Try as their might, Deportivo Alavés could not slow the Catalan giant down, nor could the rotations Ernesto Valverde opted for. Even though this game won’t go down as one of the classics, Barcelona were extremely dominant in their approach and the hosts had no answers to that superiority.
With another three points in the bag, the Blaugrana will only need three more to seal the deal. This tactical analysis will tell you just how they completed the first out of two steps on their way to glory.
Lineups
Barcelona (4-3-3)
Starting XI: Ter Stegen Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Sergi Aleña, Busquets, Vidal Dembélé, Suárez, Coutinho
Bench: Cillessen, Lenglet, Alba, Vermaelen, Arthur, Messi, Malcom
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Deportivo Alaves (5-4-1)
Starting XI: Pacheco Vigaray, Navarro, Laguardia, Ely, Duarte Wakaso, Pina Rolan, Jony Baston
Bench: Sivera, Guidetti, Marin, Manu, Darko, Martin, Twumasi
Coach: Abelardo Fernández
Barcelona’s setup
With Liverpool on his mind, Ernesto Valverde decided to once again rotate the squad and give his big guns some well-deserved rest. The likes of Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitić, Clement Lenglet and Jordi Alba were left out of the starting lineup and the Croat out of the squad altogether.
Samuel Umtiti returned to the starting XI, as did Carles Aleña, and Valverde opted for an interesting solution for the full-back positions. This time, both Sergi Roberto and Nélson Semedo were on the pitch from the get-go, as the Spaniard compensated for Alba’s absence on the left.
A similar thing happened with the forw


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