La Liga 2018/19: Deportivo Alavés vs Barcelona

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