Barcelona vs Chelsea: Talking tactics

Finally we have four teams from three different league in the semifinals of Champions league. Some say this year’s semifinal teams are the strongest since quite a long time. With Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea, it indeed looks very strong. While Bayern, Real and Barca are favourites, while Chelsea is the odd one out mainly because they have been struggling domestically and have had an on and off season. Nevertheless, Chelsea are a very strong team and can rise to the occasion. Sometimes, you don’t need to win each and every game right from the word go. Teams who rise their game when the moment arises often win matches. With the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Micheal Essien and Petr Cech fading away, they would want to give it a shot one last time. So how should Chelsea approach the game against Barcelona?

Many times this season, Pep Guardiola has fielded a team not based on their strengths but rather on the opposition’s weaknesses – a trait which he might have learnt from his compatriot Bielsa – and it is highly likely that he might do the same with Chelsea.

Guardiola has modified his defensive line from four men to more like a three and half men or three men with Dani Alves making constant transitions from defense to offence. Once again this is something which Bielsa has implemented at Athletic Bilbao with Andoni Iraola at right back. This was especially evident during first half of the second leg against Milan where Alves didn’t even track back, and this was partially the reason for Milan’s only goal in the second leg. Antonio Nocerino found space behind Puyol who was playing centrally in a three man defensive line.

I expect Guardiola to play with the same defensive line against Chelsea and stretch the play using Dani Alves for two reasons. Firstly, he provides width to the game. And secondly, because he stretches the wingers allowing Barcelona to get some much needed space in the midfield. In fact, in the second leg against Milan, Guardiola went a step ahead and selected Cuenca – who is more than happy to stay wide and draw defenders towards him – over Tello and Sanchez who drifts inwards. Of course, this might not be the case against Chelsea as I expect Guardiola to field Tello or Sanchez because RB is Chelsea’s weakest position and Pep would surely try to exploit this. Even though Ivanovic is pretty strong, he was very slow against Napoli forwards and they pretty much exploited his weakness. So expect Sanchez or Tello to be fielded against Ivanovic.

Coming to midfield, Chelsea are really lucky to have an in-form Mikel. His stats against Benfica read: 94% (49/52) passing, 71 touches, 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 block, 4 clearances , which point to his revival under De Matteo. More importantly, his distribution which has come under criticism earlier, has been top class. Frank Lampard’s tackles are very crucial in stopping Barcelona from going forward and make his forward runs into the box simultaneously. I think De Matteo will be starting with a 4-2-3-1 which isn’t a bad strategy. But I wouldn’t like to see Kalou as a left winger. For all his goal scoring abilities, I simply don’t think Kalou is of Chelsea’s class and he should be properly utilized as a sub. Missed chances like the one against Benfica simply can’t be afforded against Barca.

Ramires and Sturridge should be on Left and Right wings with Mata playing centrally, something which De Matteo tried against Napoli earlier and worked out pretty well. I personally think Mata is going to enjoy this match more than others because he likes the physical aspect of the game to be minimal even if that means operating in tight spaces, he will be crucial to Chelsea. With Sturridge on Right Wing, he brings pace and dribbling skills which might work against Puyol.

Now coming to the striker’s role, this is anyone’s guess. I personally feel who ever is on a hot run at the moment should be selected.With Torres,you get the pace to go beyond the defensive line. But with Drogba, he has this special ability to draw defenders with him and Mascherano has struggled a lot in the second leg against AC Milan playing high with Robinho dropping deep. You get this extra advantage with Drogba,which is the reason I go with him.

I feel Chelsea MUST have a plan B and they should experiment with the diamond formation. Barcelona have struggled against teams playing with a diamond formation. An example of this is their 2-0 loss against Hercules. Hercules played with a flattened Diamond in the midfield whenever Barcelona got possession. This must be tried in third half of the game with Torres and Drogba upfront with Mata subbed. There is no reason whatsoever, why they cant work with each other and I think this might be a decisive move from Chelsea. Lampard should play at the tip of the diamond as he will be useful in the latter stages of game going forward. Of course the downside of this is that full backs are exposed but that shouldn’t be an issue as strength will be of more importance than pace.

On another note, Chelsea must pray for rain. As we have seen the game against Hercules or Bilbao, Barcelona really struggle to pass the ball when the pitch is damp and this might favour Chelsea in curbing their attacks.

• It is a known fact how Barca dominates possession and how they operate by forming triangles in the midfield. But how about off the ball? How does Barcelona gain possession back?
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• In this snapshot, look how Busquets presses the Getafe player on the ball. More importantly notice how other Barca players position themselves and close down his options to pass the ball. He can neither pass the ball forward nor get back to his centre backs. Mikel and Lampard (Who are expected to be in double pivot) must be careful here, especially with back passing. Mikel’s distribution has been good off late and this might work in Chelsea’s favour. But the thing which Chelsea have and Getafe doesn’t is Juan Mata‘s skill. If Chelsea face same situation, you expect Mata to position himself some where near the referee to receive the ball. Chelsea have to be stronger in midfield and Mata’s role will be very crucial for that to happen.
• If I were Guardiola, I would be very much tempted to play Cuenca or Pedro against Chelsea. These players have are an exception from rest of Barcelona attackers who prefer to operate within narrow spaces in the midfield. They stay wide, dragging at least one defender along with them and creating space for Barcelona playmakers to operate in the midfield.
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• This are the average positions of Barcelona players against Getafe. Look at the positions of Cuenca and Pedro. Remember this are the AVERAGE positions of players so in reality they are far wide than the picture depicts. This is how Barcelona take the ball forward. Messi, Sanchez, Iniesta, Xavi all prefer to operate in between the lines and run forward courtesy the space created by wingers. This is how Barcelona outsmart opponents who try to man mark them. They create confusion between opponent players as to who has to mark whom. Chelsea has to wary about this or else it will be a disaster. It is important to note that the space created by wingers contributed to all the Barcelona goals.
• MESSI – Many teams try to double mark Messi. With all due respect to Messi and his skills, it is better not to double mark Messi. Limiting the damage Messi causes by shutting down service to him would be a more sensible option.
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• Getafe’s Left Back is trying to mark Messi leaving Cuenca all alone on the right flank. Although this snapshot might not exactly suggest its importance, this happened many times in the match. Notice both Puyol and Cuenca are left unmarked implying Barcelona’s right flank is left all alone. This is something Chelsea have to avoid considering Dani Alves is going to be a threat on the right flank and his forward runs are something Cole have to be wary of.

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