Thread by @BouafifNour

Tactical analysis: How Barcelona’s defensive structure evolved and finally clicked against Celta Vigo. (Thread🧵)

Likes and Reposts are much appreciated.

1⃣Intro
Usually in these threads I cover everything that happened in the game, on and off the ball, but this time the focus has to be on the defensive side. After all the chaos we’ve seen this season, Flick finally made real adjustments worth breaking down. So let's get started

2⃣First Half
Barca pressed high as usual, and as Celta played in a 3-4-3, we used a simple structure with our front three pressing their 3 center-backs, fullbacks stepped up on the wing-backs, Olmo and Fermín pressed the pivots, and Frenkie stayed deeper with Araujo and Cubarsí.

This setup was quite normal and not really the main point I want to highlight. The real adjustment came in how Flick handled the method that everyone has been using to beat our offside trap this season. Let me first explain this method briefly

The pattern is simple: the opponent keeps their ST in a clear offside position so that our defenders abandon him then they play a through ball wide toward the flank, where the winger carries the ball forward until the striker is back onside, setting him up for an easy goal.

Almost every opponent has been exploiting this lately, which is why our offside trap has looked so easy to break. Celta can do it even better as they have two wing-backs and two wingers in their formation, all they need to do is get the ball to one of their wing-backs, force our fullback on that side to step up, and then use the space behind him to execute the same method.

But this time, Flick finally reacted and introduced two different solutions to counter it. The first solution came in the first half, where Flick used Frenkie de Jong almost as a Libero. Not in every action, of course, because that would constantly break the offside trap...

but every time the ball went wide to one of Celta’s wing-backs, Frenkie reacted instantly by dropping deep to cover the striker. This way, even if the wide through ball was played, the winger couldn’t find the striker, who was now being marked by Frenkie. It was a clever adjustment, but it caused two problems.

The first problem came from the pressing structure. Since Frenkie had to drop back to cover Borja, while the other two midfielders stepped up to press the pivots, it created a large gap between our midfield and defensive line. This allowed Borja to drop into that space repeatedly to receive the ball and help Celta bypass our press.

And because Frenkie, not a physical center-back, was marking him, Borja could comfortably receive the ball with his back to goal. This exact situation led to Celta’s first goal, as Borja’s freedom on the ball allowed him to pick the perfect pass for the runner in behind.

The second problem was that Frenkie’s frequent deep dropping to act as a sweeper left too much space at the edge of the box. Borja noticed that Frenkie always moved back to prevent the wide runner from playing a pass into the box, so he started positioning himself on the edge of the box and exploited that space with a beautiful shot to score Celta’s second goal.

3⃣Second half
Flick adjusted in this half to solve this problems, Instead of having Frenkie drop between the CB to form a back 3 during pressing phases he kept Frenkie higher in his pivot position to protect the space in front of the defense and reduce the gap between the lines

And one of the fullbacks would tuck in to form the back three instead. For example, when the ball was on Balde's side and he had to step up and press, Eric would drop deeper to form the back three, and vice versa when Eric stepped up, Balde would stay back.

With Frenkie staying in his usual pivot role, it became harder for Borja to find space to drop and receive the ball now, fixing the first issue and stopping Celta from bypassing the press. But that meant Frenkie couldn’t act as a sweeper anymore to cover the ST when the ball goes wide, so Flick had to find a new solution to the pattern that usually exposes our offside trap.

Flick's solution in this half was to instruct the defenders to track the runners directly whenever those wide through balls were about to be played. Although instructing defenders to use the offside trap in certain situations and drop it in others could be confusing sometimes, it wasn’t the case this time, because it was clear when Celta were about to use that pattern, usually right when their wing-back received the ball on the flanks.

For example, when their wingback got the ball here and Eric stepped up to press, Araujo simply followed their winger's run instead of trying to catch him offside so instead of closing on the Striker like we did in the first half Flick chose to close on the wingers runs this half

These second half adjustments worked brilliantly, allowing Barça to press effectively while conceding zero chances. What also helped was that In the final twenty to twenty-five minutes, Barça spent more time defending in a mid-block rather than pressing high all the time.

We used more pressing triggers, starting from a mid-block with a slightly lower defensive line, and kept Yamal and Rashford wider to help fullbacks cover the flanks, and once we had a bit of breathing room, one of the front players would trigger the press again

Because of these periods of rest in between, each press was executed with much higher intensity than usual. The change of defensive discipline since the start of the game from both Lamine and Rashford also helped as they showed much better work rate and intensity off the ball.

Lamine was even the one to often trigger the press and likely the player who won the ball the most in the final third. The counter-pressing was also improved compared to the previous matches. So it wasn't just about the systemic changes but the intensity from the players too.

4⃣Conclusion
I really liked how Flick adapted in this game. Not only did he come up with a solution in the 1st half, but he also found a proper Plan B in the 2nd that brought defensive perfection. The flexibility to drop into a mid-block at times was another very positive sign

My only concern is that Flick might have done all this as a temporary solution due to the pressure and could return to his stubborn methods once the noise dies down. We’ve seen this pattern before where he shows promising defensive adjustments and then reverts to the old habits.

I just hope this time it's a definite adjustment not a temporary one, Flick needs to use this game, especially the second half, as the blueprint for our defensive structure going forward. And not Flick alone the players also need to keep this intensity for the upcoming games.

End of thread, Thank you for reading, like and repost if you enjoyed it and follow me for more threads like this