The much-anticipated Spanish national derby started again, however, this time the result surprised many fans - at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Barca defeated Real Madrid 4-0.
It is worth noting that barca's previous three managers Koeman, Setien and Valverde have led the team to participate in the last 5 La Liga national derbies, they not only have 1 draw and 4 defeats, but also have only scored 3 goals in these 5 games, and now Xavi's coaching career has won in the league's national derby debut and scored 4 goals in a single game.
Xavi's transformation of Barcelona is obvious to all, but we can't ignore the key role played by role players.
After the winter window from Arsenal to free Aubameyang, the Gabonese star who was once criticized at Arsenal as "lazy" and "unprofessional" has a second spring, coupled with the second degree of this game, Aubameyang has scored nine goals in 11 games for Barca, one of the most efficient top scorers in world football at the same time.
Aubameyang's rise to Barcelona is indeed somewhat surprising.
He was once a well-deserved top scorer, whether in the Bundesliga or the Premier League, but as he grew older and incompatibility with tactics, coupled with endless off-field news, his performance at Arsenal declined, and even the embarrassing situation of being stripped of captaincy and entering the cold palace for a long time.
Holding hands with Barca, who has undergone reconstruction, is not only Aubameyang's attempt to rewrite his career, but also a comprehensive embodiment of Xavi's idea of "bringing the old to the new". The weekly salary of 5,000 euros has brought a perfect "No. 9 player" to the Rossandr, and it has to be said that it is a fairly good deal for both Aubameyang and Barca.
Looking at Aubameyang's stats this season, the Gabonese have scored seven goals in 13 games for the Gunners, but have scored nine goals in 11 games for Barca. Last season, the Gabonese star scored just 14 goals in 38 games. Compared to the highlights of Today's Barcelona, the two are simply very different.
Fans can't help but wonder: from the downturn in the Premier League to the highlights of La Liga, what made the Gabonese centre-forward "full of blood resurrection"?
Top shooter, never dissipated
Looking at the post-match comments section of the national derby, it is inevitable to see some fans lamenting the "stumbling" of Aubameyang in the past few years. Indeed, due to Arsenal's declining performance in previous seasons, and even losing the Champions League qualification for many years in a row, the former Bundesliga small steel cannon winners could only commit themselves to the Europa League and even fell out of the European zone for two consecutive seasons.
But from another perspective, Arsenal's downturn is not the same as Aubameyang's downturn.
On the contrary, in the dark years of Arsenal, it was the Gabon star who carried the team forward, which gave Arsenal the last "fig leaf". Even if the team he plays for is not good, Aubameyang's top scorer quality has never been lost, which also laid a solid foundation for his "bloody resurrection" after changing the goal.
Aubameyang joined Milan U19 from Bastia in 2007, and due to the gathering of nerazzurri stars at the time, the young Aubameyang was never able to get enough opportunities to play, and was constantly on loan for the following long years.
In the winter window of the 2011-12 season, Saint-Etienne officially bought out Aubameyang for a transfer fee of 1.8 million euros. In the 2011-12 season, the 23-year-old Gabonese center scored 20 goals and nine assists in 40 games, making him one of the most prominent players in the San Éti security team.
It was also since then that Aubameyang's high goalscoring efficiency has become known – in his subsequent career, except for the 2013-14 season and the 2020-21 season, Aubameyang has never scored less than 20 goals in a single season, including 40 goals in the 2016-17 season, pushing Levan to win the Bundesliga Golden Boot.
After coming to the Premier League, Aubameyang's goal efficiency did not decay in the slightest.
In his debut season, he scored 10 goals and 4 assists in 14 games, and in the 2018-19 season, Aubameyang scored 31 goals in 51 games for the Gunners, winning the Premier League Golden Boot and helping the team reach the Europa League final.
From a more statistical point of view, except for the last two seasons of declining performance, Aubameyang has always contributed good goalscoring efficiency in his career – averaging 0.42 goals per game for Saint-Etiennes, 0.66 goals under Borussia Dortmund and 0.56 goals under Arsenal.
Aubameyang's true goalscoring qualities have never dissipated, and once he finds the right soil, he will be able to shine again.
A flexible tactical environment, the introduction to Aubameyang's "resurrection"
After the stumbling of the Van Gaal era, and then to the temporary prosperity of "Dream Two" and "Dream Three", Xavi is the core of the midfield and one of the cornerstones of Barca's passing control style of play.
Since then, although he has gone to Qatar, Whether as a player or a head coach, Xavi's blood has never lost the transmission gene. Years of experience overseas have given him a clearer judgment of different football styles, and he also understands the importance of watching dishes and eating.
After the gray-headed end of the Koeman era, relying on the three center-back bases he left behind to get through a difficult run-in period, Harvey has clearly mentioned the emphasis on passing tactics on many occasions.
It can be found that since Xavi took office, in addition to a 3-0 defeat to Bayern, Barca can have the advantage in possession of the remaining 26 games - 72% against Osasuna, 72% against Biba, 76% against Alaves, and even against top teams like Real Madrid, Barca can have more than 60% of the ball.
High possession often brings the illusion that, at least tactically, Barca are back in "total control" from the Guardiola era?
The answer, of course, is no. Whether from the perspective of personnel structure or tactical tacit understanding, even if Xavi has brought great changes to Barca, it is still difficult for Barça today to compete with the Guadalcan Barça of that year. Behind the high possession rate, there is actually a deeper tactical thinking hidden by Harvey.
Today's Barca do not fully control the rhythm of the game as in the Pep Guardiola era, and when the face is unbalanced or the attack is lost, Xavi will also use the counterattack to strengthen the no-ball end and pay attention to the contraction of the defensive line.
Against Valencia, Aubameyang's control of the holes in the defensive line and the use of counter-attack opportunities were vividly demonstrated.
Let's look at the picture above, Barca's transmission after taking the ball is not concentrated in the midfield area, but is organized by the players of the back line for a long time, forcing Valencia to stand forward as a whole, and the side creates anti-offside space for Aubameyang to ambush in the forward line.
When Alba took the ball, Aubameyang used his speed advantage to quickly insert himself along the rib gap, forming a subtle combination with Alba's long pass, and finally stopped the ball and hit the goal.
The process of scoring this goal is not a tradition of Barca, but fully utilizes The speed of Aubameyang's assault on the offensive end.
From the perspective of foot technology alone, Aubameyang still has a certain gap with the La Masia system, which has always attached importance to small technical tempering, and his characteristics are still no ball running in large spaces, rapid interspersing, and counter-insertion in a counterattack state.
Therefore, the ability to create enough space for Aubameyang in attack is an important factor in determining the Gabon striker's upper limit at Barca.
In view of its technical characteristics, Harvey has also constructed a flexible tactical system.
Before Xavi took office, Barca was long plagued by "reversal" and "big score tragedy", the reason for which had a lot to do with the lack of pressure resistance in midfield. Artur and Coutinho were quite valuable, but ineffective; the temporary use of Vidal, Paulinho and others may have a momentary highlight, but after all, it is not in line with Barça tradition.
In this case, the Red and Blue Legions have retreated in all directions, and even the passing tactics of settling down are gradually being lost.
Briefly following the three-centre-back formation, Xavi identified Barca's main formation as the familiar 433. In this set of tactical systems, Harvey continues the reuse of young players, hoping that young players will liberate the midfield through more running, on the one hand, to support the forward line in a timely manner, on the other hand, to ensure the first time to rebound after losing the ball through wide coverage, so as to avoid the opponent from quickly burning the flames to their own defensive three zones.
This series of reforms relies on the ascension of young players such as Pedri and Garvey, which seems to be limited to the midfield, but in fact lays a solid foundation for Aubameyang's brilliance.
Through the large change of positions in the midfield, Barca's original slightly lifeless midfield system has been greatly changed, and the personnel of the forward trident have chosen to take Ferran Torres + Aubameyang + Dembele as the best, supplemented by the moderate front insertion of midfielders, Barca can often present a hundred flowers in the local attack, on the one hand, it brings great trouble to the defenders, on the other hand, it also creates a fatal space for "hunters" such as Aubameyang.
Facing Valencia's second goal, Barca was adhering to the principle of "from the whole to the individual", running from a large shift in the midfield, disrupting the opponent's overall defense, and finally Aubameyang looking for space to complete the fatal blow.
As shown in the picture, Dest and the receding Dembele formed a short pass on a local scale, dispatching the attention of 2 to 3 Valencia defenders, and midfielder Garvey took advantage of the situation to insert himself into the unguarded right winger position. Once Dembele's diagonal plug is in place, Garvey can adjust his foot points to complete the cross.
In terms of wrapping up the middle, Aubameyang continued to use his sense of smell as a top scorer to the fullest: in the face of a series of combinations played by his teammates on the right, the Gabonese realized in advance the possibility of Garvey as a potential receiver and accelerated his sprint towards the small penalty area. Meanwhile, Ferran Torres moved in time to the front to attract the attention of the two defenders, while Alba filled the void at the back post, completing a textbook combination of side-and-center tactics.
The goal may seem like a simple "pie in front of goal", but it is an important reason why strikers like Aubameyang are so hot.
In the face of opportunities, the quality of the first foot in the door is important, but the previous series of foundations can not be ignored. The more agile frontcourt under Xavi's tactical system dispatches the attention of defenders to avoid Aubameyang from being trapped in a muscular forest and unable to extricate himself, and his opportunity to catch and run without the ball can have more room to play.
Against Real Madrid's national derby, facing the world's top defensive line, Xavi's set of tactics still creates many opportunities for Aubameyang.
In the 34th minute of the game, faced with a serious disconnection in the real Madrid midfield, Barca avoided overly complicated ground conduction after obtaining the ball, and directly used a concise and clear long pass to find De Jong in front of the field. Aubameyang did not serve as the first receiver on this attack, but used his speed advantage to insert along the rib gap between Alaba and Carvajal, and finally completed a shot.
In the 46th minute of the game, Aubameyang relied on Barca's successful frontcourt system to complete an assist. As mentioned earlier, Xavi placed a lot of emphasis on the overall movement of the midfield and the first time after losing the ball, in order to create more space for Aubameyang, who is good at counter-inserting behind the defense.
As shown in the picture, De Jong's timely forward insertion allowed dembele, who was deeply pressed, to quickly deliver the ball, at this time the Real Madrid defense was unable to close in time after conceding the ball, and Aubameyang once again stepped forward in the face of a huge rib gap, and finally staged a good pass with a dexterous heel assist.
Leading 3:0, Real Madrid on the one hand jealous of Aubameyang's counter-attack speed, on the other hand, forced by huge offensive pressure, the disconnect between the front and back is becoming more and more obvious. At this time, Aubameyang's running space is even greater, and he lacks defensive restrictions to "dance" in the Real Madrid penalty area many times, and the Real Madrid defense line, which has neither numerical advantage nor tactical arrangement, can only helplessly watch the Gabonese score twice.
On the whole, whether it is a coincidence or a deliberate act, the high degree of fit between Barca's tactics and Aubameyang is an important reason for its rapid rise. Whether it is Ferran Torres and Dembele, who are also good at running, or the energetic youngsters behind him, Aubameyang can maximize his advantages at the running end in such a dynamic forwardcourt system, avoiding the exposure of a single technical characteristic after holding the ball for a long time.
Supply and demand correspond to fill vacancies
After Suarez left, Barca fell into a long period of "center-forward drought". The high-priced Griezmann has a wealth of characteristics but insufficient center-forward attributes; Braysvert has been plagued by long injuries this season and has a serious lack of playing time; Depay, although wearing the no. 9 shirt, is still not a pure center forward candidate; Luc De Jong is gradually regaining his form, but after all, it is only an alternative to the offensive battle, not the choice of Barca's mainstream tactics.
In the stumbling selection of the center, Barça inevitably suffered a lot of "weak forward" losses: from this season's data, Barça have created 87 excellent scoring opportunities, and their average possession rate is as high as 65%, both of which can rank first in La Liga. But for a long time, Barca, with a large number of scoring opportunities, were unable to complete the fatal blow, which ultimately dragged down the team's overall record.
Weighing the pros and cons, despite the decline in performance in the past two seasons, Aubameyang still entered the barca field of vision. As a center, Aubameyang is not known for his physical confrontation, and the fatal blow as a killer is the magic weapon for him to survive.
Once upon a time, in order to maximize Aubameyang's goal attributes, Arteta did not hesitate to place it on the left side, avoid the heavy attention of Premier League defenders, and even let Sakagan be the left defender, so as to maximize the support of Aubameyang's area of the attacking system.
Looking at Aubameyang's career, even in his most dazzling seasons of 16-17, 18-19, his opportunity grasp ability can only rank outside the top 10 of the same position (18-19 season opportunity grasp ability ranks 22nd in the same position), but he can still dedicate such a high number of goals, the reason is because of his ability to catch opportunities.
In the context of the lack of opportunity grasping ability, Aubameyang's ability to find opportunities is among the best in Europe. In the 16th and 17th seasons, he ranked first in the same position in terms of average shots per game and second in the same position in terms of average shots per game; after coming to the Premier League, these two statistics can also be ranked in the top 10 of all players in the same position for a long time.
Against Real Madrid, Aubameyang, although he also had the embarrassing scene of wasting his chances, still maintained his ability to catch them. He has a total of 5 shots on target in the game, you know, the real Madrid team has only 4 shots on goal in the whole game, which is 1 less than Aubameyang alone.
Barca, desperate for a strong centre-forward, met Aubameyang, who was sent into the cold at Arsenal, with the former needing an experienced goalscorer to complete the transition, the latter needing a suitable platform to find a second spring, the same goal allowing the two to hold hands and finally write such a perfect start.
Conclusion: Although the honeymoon is beautiful, there are still hidden dangers
Aubameyang's performance is there for all to see, but Barca today is far from being able to enjoy the results.
Xavi's tactical system gave Aubameyang more room to spare, wiping away his decadence in the later Arsenal period. But from another point of view, Aubameyang's current bloody resurrection also has a lot to do with his long-term "recuperation" at Arsenal in the first half of the season. The ample reserves allowed the Gabonese goalscorer to quickly get into Barca's tactical atmosphere, and his extensive experience in multiple leagues in his career allowed him to integrate into the team in a short period of time and produce steadily.
But for Barca, which faces multiple fronts every season, Aubameyang, now 32, is still at risk of being "overwhelmed".
Just like Suarez at that time, Barca struggled to find a substitute for him, but the final result was a bamboo basket. Today's Aubameyang is undoubtedly a representative of the old and strong, but the long multi-front battle will also become a destabilizing factor in his state fluctuations. Whether to find a suitable substitute or to spend a lot of money on Haaland needs to be decided by Barca's management as soon as possible.