Barcelona 2-1 Villarreal: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

Barcelona edged out Villarreal 2-1 in a tense affair at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

The La Liga champions got into their passing rhythm early and dominated the early exchanges. However, their opener arrived via an unlikely avenue when Antoine Griezmann flicked a Lionel Messi corner past Sergio Asenjo.

Nine minutes later, Arthur Melo stamped his mark on the game with a sumptuous strike from 25 yards.

Villarreal though, halved the deficit before the break when Santi Cazorla blazed the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen from distance.

After the restart, both teams failed to add to their tallies even though the hosts were carved out better openings.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game.

#5 A first half of stupendous strikes

Arthur made the net bulge from distance in the first half

Barcelona and Villarreal arrived at the Camp Nou having scored the most number of goals in the La Liga season so far. The pair had made the net bulge on 12 occasions in 5 games and that whetted the appetite for several anticipating an open game on Tuesday.

Though the match didn’t flow as much as expected in the opening 45 minutes, both teams showcased the offensive quality that has enabled them to breach opposition defences with ease.

In the 6th minute, Antoine Griezmann nodded home a delicious Lionel Messi corner at the near post. The goal might not make as many headlines as some of the others that were produced in the half yet, the execution of that particular header was just as difficult.

After finding space adroitly between the Villarreal defenders, the Frenchman arched his neck at the optimum angle in order to deflect his header onto the underside of the crossbar. Had Griezmann gotten too heavy a touch, he would’ve put his effort beyond the post whereas too light a contact would’ve scuppered the opportunity altogether.

Just after a quarter of an hour had passed, Arthur Melo got into the act himself and produced an absolute scorcher.

The Brazilian picked the ball 25 yards from goal and looked sideways for options. However, when none presented itself, he decided to pull the trigger. The ball rocketed off his boot and arrowed into the top corner to the keeper’s right.

On the stroke of half time, Cazorla smashed in a 25-yard stunner to provide competition to the aforementioned goals. The Spaniard, after some astute build-up play, found himself in space between the defence and midfield.

The midfielder took a couple of touches before unleashing a stupendous strike past ter Stegen.

The ball was struck so purely that it dipped and swerved at the final moment, thereby making life extremely difficult for the goalkeeper.

Thus, throughout the opening period, both teams tried their best to outdo the other in terms of the quality of goals scored.

And, while clear-cut chances were at a premium during the half, when they did come around, both sides ensured they didn’t disappoint.

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#4 Lionel Messi sizzles before making the Camp Nou extremely nervy

Messi was substituted at half-time due to injury

After being plagued by injuries for the better part of August and September, Messi finally started his first game of the season against Villarreal. Unsurprisingly, there was palpable excitement around the Camp Nou.

The Argentine started off in dazzling fashion too and that led the home crowd to wonder what might’ve been had their talisman been fit through their early games.

In the 6th minute, the Barcelona captain whipped in a delightful corner at the near post which was powered past the goalkeeper by Griezmann. The forward also played a vital role in the build-up to Arthur’s goal.

Apart from the assists, the Argentine looked sharp on the ball and tiptoed his way past numerous challenges. Moreover, his exemplary relationship with Luis Suarez came to the fore as the pair combined for a few attacking moves.

Hence, in 16 minutes, Messi had highlighted what the Blaugrana had been missing and immediately signalled his intentions to make up for lost time.

However, moments later, the forward started clutching his thigh, a sight that visibly silenced the terraces at the Camp Nou. He also went off for a few minutes in order to get some treatment. Yet, it all proved to be vain as Messi was ultimately hauled off at half-time.

And, though there exists a question over whether the substitution was merely precautionary or not, Barcelona and the Camp Nou will certainly be waiting with bated breath.

After all, not many players in world football are as important to their teams as Messi is to the Blaugrana.

#3 Santi Cazorla rolls back the clock but Villarreal leave empty-handed

A few years ago, Santi Cazorla was told that he should consider himself fortunate to just stroll around in his garden, let alone jog, run or play football. However, the Spaniard has defied those odds and rather emphatically at that.

And, on Tuesday, he proved that he still has plenty to offer to Villarreal and Spanish football.

The midfielder buzzed around in the middle third and asked for the ball in tight areas, in the process, relieving his teammates of pressure. Additionally, his mazy dribbling enabled him to wriggle past opponents, an attribute that created the space for him to thunder in Villarreal’s only goal.

Unfortunately though, that performance wasn’t enough to strip Barcelona of points at the Camp Nou.

Apart from Cazorla, there weren’t too many positives for the visitors as they failed to ruffle enough Barcelona feathers. Though their approach play looked tidy, they lacked a cutting edge in their attack, meaning that most of their offensive movements were snuffed out easily.

Additionally, they let in a couple of soft goals, which could’ve been avoided had they been more alert.

For the first goal, the two defenders were caught ball-watching as Griezmann made a run off the back of them. With regards to the second goal, the midfielders were guilty of not coming out to block Arthur’s shot quickly enough.

Despite the season being in its formative stages, Villarreal have had a bit to shout about. Before today, they had scored as many goals as Barcelona and had looked a handful for any defence.

However, with their attack failing to function to potential, they were on the wrong end of a result.

After all, one knows that the components of the machine have gone awry when even the great diminutive Spanish magician aka Cazorla, despite conjuring something special, left empty-handed.

#2 Ernesto Valverde continues to flirt with fire with his tactics

Over the course of the past couple of seasons, Ernesto Valverde has enjoyed success at Barcelona, having won the La Liga twice and the Copa Del Rey once. However, talk around the Spaniard’s suitability to the Blaugrana has never remained too far away. And, those discussions have only grown louder after Barcelona have endured two infamous nights in Liverpool and Rome.

Thus, the 2019-20 season was always looked upon as a make or break term for the manager, especially considering the veils of discontent among the Camp Nou ranks regarding his philosophy.

And, so far, he hasn’t particularly covered himself in glory.

Till now, Barcelona have played in four away games and haven’t notched up a victory in any of those. More glaringly though, they came into the fixture against Villarreal having conceded the most number of goals across the La Liga.

Valverde’s tactics entail a prioritization of calculation over creativity and those aspects have become synonymous with the Blaugrana in the last two years. However, one reckons that a continuation of the same would be akin to the Spaniard playing with fire and inevitably, he would get his hands burnt.

To put things into perspective, Barcelona, ever since the late great Johan Cruyff’s footballing revolution, have rarely ceded possession to the opposition and played on the back foot. But, under the current manager, it has become the norm rather than being the anomaly.

Consequently, the Camp Nou outfit have failed to produce the free-flowing football they’ve been renowned for recently and that has contributed to moans and groans from the terraces.

However, those tactics have also exposed another facet of their game, namely their ability to keep things quiet at the back, especially in crunch games.

Even against Villarreal, the hosts allowed the visitors an awful lot of possession. Though the Yellow Submarine failed to stitch together the requisite number of attacks to trouble Barcelona, the home side’s ploy seemed clear.

In the process, the Blaugrana invariably slow down the pace of the game and that tactic works a charm at home, where they enjoy the width of the Camp Nou pitch.

However, in venues that accord much less space, the method comes unstuck as Barcelona try to stretch the pitch and inevitably, get stung on the counter attack.

And, by according more of the ball to the opposition on the road, their competitors are able to create more chances and break the Blaugrana rear-guard down.

In years gone by, Barcelona have passed their rivals into submission, meaning that their counterparts got tired of chasing the ball, leaving them exhausted to mount substantial attacks.

Yet, with the current system, their opponents are much better equipped to utilize their chances and that has dovetailed with Barcelona’s woes away from home.

An enormous amount of speculation has surrounded Valverde since he has been at the helm. And, those questions aren’t going to subside anytime soon, especially if the Spaniard keeps favouring such tactics.

#1 Antoine Griezmann personifies Barcelona’s recent form

Griezmann again looked sharp at the Camp Nou

Barcelona have endured a topsy-turvy start to the campaign and have been scrappy for a majority of it. Subsequently, Griezmann, one of their marquee signings, has found life tough at times, with criticism being aimed at his ability to fit into the Blaugrana’s system.

Yet, he has managed to sandwich the poor performances with superlative displays. And on Tuesday, it was definitely a case of the latter.

The Frenchman looked sharp from the outset and made the net ripple in the 6th minute after getting on the end of a Messi corner.

Thereafter, his constant running caused the Villarreal defence problems and he was extremely intelligent in his off the ball movements too.

Thus, the former Atletico Madrid striker had strung together his third straight scintillating performance at home.

However, rather frustratingly, he has spectacularly failed to reproduce that level on the road, a trait he has shared with Barcelona so far.

Akin to Griezmann, the Blaugrana have also stuttered and stumbled on their travels, with their inability to get going in adverse conditions coming under the scanner.

Yet, at the Camp Nou, they’ve attacked with verve, engineered several chances and ultimately, put those to bed, thereby emerging victorious in all of their home encounters.

However, one feels that Barcelona and Griezmann might need to significantly improve their away form, if they are to challenge on all fronts.

And, especially after what has gone down on the road in 2018 and 2019, the last thing the Camp Nou outfit would want is a three-peat.