Champions League: Barcelona talking points as Lionel Messi stars but tactics lay foundation

Andy West 01:41 02/05/2019
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  • Lionel Messi added to his collection of great goals.

    The final scoreline might have flattered them somewhat, but Barcelona showed a combination of their attacking brilliance and perhaps unexpected defensive resilience as they overcame Liverpool 3-0 to put one foot in the Champions League final.

    A stupendous free-kick from Lionel Messi was the highlight moment, but the real key to Barca’s success on the night came further back – partly sparked by manager Ernesto Valverde’s selection strategy, which starts our three talking points from the Blaugrana’s performance.

    TACTICAL TWEAKS

    The first talking point came before kick-off when, as expected, Barca boss Ernesto Valverde selected Sergi Roberto and former Liverpool man Philippe Coutinho to start ahead of Nelson Semedo and Ousmane Dembele, suggesting he wanted to control the game through possession in midfield rather than penetrating the visiting defence through pace and directness.

    However, the home team boss did add some muscle into the midfield battleground by opting for all-action Arturo Vidal ahead of ball-playing Brazilian Arthur. Vidal played on the right of a midfield quartet, with Ivan Rakitic switching to the left of Sergio Busquets alongside Coutinho.

    There were pros and cons to those changes in the centre of midfield, with the absence of Arthur’s excellent passing range and coolness under pressure a big miss as Vidal often showed a lack of quality on the ball.

    The big plus, however, was the impact upon Sergio Busquets who has been below-par and desperately stretched on many occasions this season but looked like his old self on this occasion, emboldened by the support of Vidal as well as Rakitic. Their presence prevented Busquets from being isolated in front of his back four, and this was one of his best performances for a long time.

    Ernesto Valverde

    FEISTY SUAREZ STILL POTENT

    Over various stages of the season many Barca fans have worried themselves silly over the form of veteran striker Luis Suarez, who has occasionally looked as though his best days are behind him and gone through prolonged periods without scoring.

    Every time he has been written off, though, Suarez has responded with a burst of scoring – and that was the case again, with the Uruguayan preparing to face his former team after netting just once in the last five games.

    Suarez’s finish to give Barca the lead midway through the first half was a superb strike, much tougher to execute than it looked as he darted forward to meet Jordi Alba’s cross with a touch which was powerful enough to beat Allison but deft enough to be glanced inside the near post. After the ball flew in, there was none of those ‘refusing to celebrate against my former team’ shenanigans, with Suarez instead throwing himself into an impassioned celebration. And he proceeded to show there is plenty of life in the old dog yet, relentlessly chasing down lost causes and serving as his team’s emotional leader by getting embroiled with various heated arguments, before teeing up the second goal with an effort against the crossbar.

    Suarez, finished? Don’t be so silly.

    Luis Suarez opened the scoring against his former side.

    Luis Suarez opened the scoring against his former side.

    BARCA DIG IN

    With Messi and Suarez at their disposal, the whole word knows that Barca are one of the most devastating attacking forces in football.

    But in this game, and especially in the second half, they showed another set of capabilities by digging themselves in for an extensive bout of tough and disciplined defending.

    With Liverpool well on top, the home side barely escaped their own half in the first 30 minutes after the break, with the nature of the game perfectly illustrated by Ernesto Valverde’s first substitution as forward Philippe Coutinho was replaced by full-back Nelson Semedo, whose entrance saw Sergi Roberto move into midfield.

    Liverpool had three chances to score during that period but Marc-Andre ter Stegen was equal to them all, and Barca’s bend-but-don’t-break defensive approach was generally very successful in keeping the visitors at arms’ length, with the midfield quartet all working extremely hard to protect the back four.

    That 30-minute period also had the effect of ensuring Messi and Suarez had plenty of energy in reserve for the final stages, which they used to great effect as Messi scored two goals – one scruffy, the other sublime – to give the Spanish side firm control of the tie.

    But that rousing finale wouldn’t have been possible without their defensive excellence between minutes 45 and 75.

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