1-Athletic pressed very well throughout the match in
the third region. Barcelona tried to go from the defence to the midfield from
the sides. Since their first passes were always horizontal, they could not get
out of tight spaces (1). Barcelona could not carry the ball forward in the
first half when Bilbao players pressed heavily on centre-backs and fullback,
both in the narrow area and outside of it (2).
2-Athletic prefers 4-4-2 formation. They were
positioned halfway through their own half of the pitch (1). This had two
purposes. First, Barcelona is a team that plays short pass game. If the number
of opposing players in the narrow area is high, this style of play can be
blocked. Second, when the game got stuck, they had to send the ball to the
player on the other wing. Because Athletic deliberately left the other wing
empty (2). When the ball went there, Barcelona could not play the short pass
game.
3-Barcelona used De Jong and Griezmann to get rid of
the pressure in the first region. De Jong came between strikers and
midfielders. He took the ball in this area and advanced to the midfield (1). He
gave it to Griezmann, who came to the midfield, and Griezmann set the game.
They tried to get rid of the intense pressure by expanding the attacking zone
(2).
4-The most important player of Athletic on corner-kicks
is Inigo Martinez. Despite knowing this, Barcelona could not defend the first
player who should have taken precautions (1). While De Jong and Eric Garcia
were marking Vivian, they could not prevent Martinez in front of them from
getting out of that area and heading towards the ball, and he scored (2). De
Jong should have followed Martinez.
5-Barcelona brought Depay closer to the centre in
order to use the space on the wing. Depay stayed close to right-back Lekue.
Alba played closer to the left wing (1). When the direction of the game changed
towards this area, Depay made it difficult for Lekue to go to the wing. Because
if Lekue went to the wing, Depay would be in front of him (2). Therefore,
Bilbao could not implement this plan well in the second half.
6-Athletic changed the direction of press. They put
pressure on Roberto and De Jong in two ways (1). When Barcelona sent the ball
to De Jong and Roberto with air passes, the opponents in front and behind tried
to steal it, continued the attack when they were successful, or quickly turned
towards the goalpost and shot (2).
7-Vivian made two mistakes on Barcelona's goal. First,
although he saw Depay, he waited in front of him and prevented Depay from being
offside (1). Second, he was not close to Depay, although Depay was the only
player he had to defend. He could have prevented him from getting the ball (2).
Depay scored when Vivian could not do this.
8-Barcelona struggled to enter the penalty area
throughout the match. After Demir entered the game, Demir and Alba moved to
wings. Griezmann and Depay played as centre-forwards. Roberto was behind them. Actually,
it was right plan, but it would have been better for them to go from the centre
to the penalty area instead of crossing. Because these 3 players are not good
at head shot. If the ball had come from the ground, they could have been
effective.
