Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona: 5 reasons why Barcelona lost the match | LaLiga 2019/2020

#4 Athletic Bilbao overran Barcelona in midfield

Barcelona were overrun in midfield

Barcelona's possession based style of play and high emphasis on ball retaining midfielders means that very rarely do the Catalans fail to impose their authority in midfield.

Against Athletic Bilbao, Ernesto Valverde opted to start the unfamiliar trio of Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong and Carles Alena, but perhaps as a sign of their non-acquaintance with one another, Barcelona were totally overrun in midfield, with Dani Garcia, Unai Lopez and Raul Garcia totally dominating proceedings, with the Barcelona midfield struggling to get to grips with the tempo of the game.

Frenkie de Jong and Carles Alena in particular struggled with the high press deployed by Gaizka Garitano, with none of the usual calmness associated with the Barcelona defense evident against their hosts.

Time and again, the Bilbao midfield slid through midfield as though their opponents were non-existent to launch attack after attack especially in the first half, and even though a semblance of sanity was restored to the middle of the park upon the introduction of Ivan Rakitic at half-time, it was far from a convincing performance by the Barcelona midfield.