4 reasons why Barcelona is struggling

#4 Style of Play

For years, Barcelona have been synonymous with possession football, but that is not their style of play anymore. Even though they boast the best possession stats in La Liga this term as well, the priority has always been control.

However, that’s precisely what they’ve ceded so often this season. Valverde has shifted from a 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 in a bid to be more offensive, but that has disrupted his team's defensive stability.

While they enjoy lengthy spells of possession, they have a tendency to commit too many men forward, leaving their defence exposed. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho often operating in the same XI, they’re virtually playing with four forwards while their full-backs are pushed high up the pitch as well.

In other words, they set themselves up perfectly to be hit on the counter-attack. So even when they have the ball at times, they’re only exposing themselves more on and more. Teams try to capitalize on open spaces and try to benefit when the Catalans switch off.