#3 Valverde's conservative approach

Ernesto Valverde is known to play safe when it comes to tactical football and is seldom seen taking any bold decisions when the stakes are high. Such a conservative approach of Valverde has costed Barcelona in the past and will haunt them again during the business end of this season.
Barcelona traveled to Rome with a 4-1 advantage and were expected to build on that lead at the Stadio Olimpico. However, Barcelona decided to sit back on their lead which gave Roma the chance to press hard and trouble Barcelona's defensive line. The result was a catastrophic 3-0 defeat and saw the Catalan club bid adieu to Europe's greatest prize.
The story hasn't changed much this season as Barcelona have been troubled by teams that play tactical passing football and are able to find spaces in the defense.
Valverde will need to adopt a different approach in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League if he wants to achieve European success at Barcelona.