Key takeaways from Xavi's 'first' victory

[iniestaGOAT]

Nope, we don't do that (opposed to Real Madrid). He was injured.

Small team beta mentality clauses

 

[BarcaOG]

lots of good points there Birdy will respond when i have a bit of time

 

[Kul_z]

Key thing is that team finally believes that we can win a big match, even when we were 1 goal down. Massive victory.

 

[jairzinho]

Strongly agree with 3)
It's amazing that almost every set piece Atleti took, they had a clear cut chance as a result.
There are positional errors, no offside trap, no serious man-marking OR zonal marking.
It's ridiculous.
Xavi has a lot to do there, and I am afraid he is not teaching that in training

This has been an issue years. We're just not comfortable at all whenever the ball comes into the box in the air and it doesn't help that Mats himself is not very good at claiming crosses. Hope Xavi can sort that out.

 

[Porque]

This has been an issue years. We're just not comfortable at all whenever the ball comes into the box in the air and it doesn't help that Mats himself is not very good at claiming crosses. Hope Xavi can sort that out.

This, it probably emotes from the organization and trust in the goalkeeper. Believing in the abilities of your goalkeeper to deal with crosses makes a huge difference.

In the same way that the Barcelona defenders and there movements when passing back to Stegen are completely different to Atleti to Oblak.

 

[Birdy]

More takeaways:

(Source: you can read here an excellent thread with the tactical analysis of the game)

This picture shows EXACTLY how the shape of team in the buildup.
It morphed almost into a 3-2-5, with:
- FDJ dropping back almost as a LCB
- Alves tucking in as another DM next to Busi
-> This allowed Alba to play as wing back high up the pitch, level with Adama on the other side,
with GAvi and Pedri to the left, and right respectively, of Ferran and level with him.

The significance of Xavi's tweak here is PARAMOUNT:
- It allowed Busi to ALWAYS remain protected, with two players (Frenkie and Dani) close to him, not leaving him isolated and prone to possession losses and steals from Atleti, which could lead to clear-cut chances (We have seen the pattern against RM in the Supercopa)
On the contrary, Atleti's 1st goal resulted from wrong positioning of the CBs, Pique in particular who was not pushing the last line higher up the pitch

- Most importantly:
Xavi finally got it right with Frenkie.
For the first time, he found his best position, the one in which he shone at Ajax.
IN LINE WITH the CBs when building from the back (I have said it so so many times that he should not play ahead of the CBs like Busi, but next to them, and drive the ball forward with his runs), and with the mobility and license to move forward when play dictates so.
His best game this season probably

 

[Behrox]

More takeaways:

(Source: you can read here an excellent thread with the tactical analysis of the game)

This picture shows EXACTLY how the shape of team in the buildup.
It morphed almost into a 3-2-5, with:
- FDJ dropping back almost as a LCB
- Alves tucking in as another DM next to Busi
-> This allowed Alba to play as wing back high up the pitch, level with Adama on the other side,
with GAvi and Pedri to the left, and right respectively, of Ferran and level with him.

The significance of Xavi's tweak here is PARAMOUNT:
- It allowed Busi to ALWAYS remain protected, with two players (Frenkie and Dani) close to him, not leaving him isolated and prone to possession losses and steals from Atleti, which could lead to clear-cut chances (We have seen the pattern against RM in the Supercopa)
On the contrary, Atleti's 1st goal resulted from wrong positioning of the CBs, Pique in particular who was not pushing the last line higher up the pitch

- Most importantly:
Xavi finally got it right with Frenkie.
For the first time, he found his best position, the one in which he shone at Ajax.
IN LINE WITH the CBs when building from the back (I have said it so so many times that he should not play ahead of the CBs like Busi, but next to them, and drive the ball forward with his runs), and with the mobility and license to move forward when play dictates so.
His best game this season probably

This style requires a hell of a lot of work from Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie and Adama to cover up holes that would be exploited on the defensive

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie are in exceptional shape