There is no precedent in La Liga history of a team being blown off three penalties and still winning, but Xavi's Barca did.
The way to reverse and kill may seem simple, but this style of play, which is tried and tried again and again in other teams and rarely gained, can score 3 goals in one game at Barca. What makes Harvey's team different? Why is the red-blue arc that opens from the wing so good?
01. Garcia has progressed: being aggressive is a good thing
One of the characteristics of Barca in this game is that the centre-back is very aggressive. In the case of the opponent retreating from the five-back, it is not easy to break the defense. Barca's two centre-backs were very strong, allowing the team to get the opportunity to suppress consecutively.
Garcia's style is actually very biased towards The English centre-back (of course, his pass is very good, it is a Spanish style), and the game is very aggressive, so it makes sense for some people to compare him with Pujols.
Temperamentally, Garcia is tough. However, Garcia's upturn was not very fast, and after this time the scramble failed, the opponent chose to take the ball across because of Alba's substitution, and was strongly cut off by Garcia after the turn.
Garcia is not very fast, but he is very decisive in handling the ball, which is an advantage. This time Garcia snatched the ball and gave De Jong a chance to counter-attack.
Barca's offensive idea is to quickly advance and find a pass into the box after a quick push, but de Jong's score is wrong.
Garcia completed 5 steals, 3 interceptions, 4 shots, and 1 blocking shot, handing over a very dazzling defensive report card. In particular, there was a goal line in the first half, which gave the team a lot of help.
Garcia's biggest problem is related to inexperience and physical inadequacy to compensate for it. His choice when he fell into defense was, after all, the biggest shortcoming.
This time, if Garcia is to help Lenglet close the door and jam the inside line, it can ensure that the defense line is foolproof, and as a result, Garcia directly runs over the head, leaving the inside line for the opponent to easily cut inside.
The third penalty, which almost changed the outcome of the game, was the biggest person responsible for the foul of Langley. But the source and amplification of the problem are related to Garcia.
Garcia didn't actually need to shovel the first time (after all, the ball was not too threatening in the past), he should turn around and replace Lenglet behind him. After the failed tackle, Garcia's quick drop was a plus, but he directly blindly retreated, and there was no player to keep an eye on, so it was a problem to give up the inside line for Levante players to cut in.
Lenglet's foul was stupid, but it also had a lot to do with the fact that his teammates didn't have the awareness of closing the door this time.
02. Eating Bread: Aubameyang can write a book
Aubameyang, who was released from his contract at Arsenal, became the red and blue top scorer after coming to Barca with 10 goals in 14 games. Although he also had a goal drought, at one point it was as long as 180 minutes! But when he needed to score, he stood up.
In the past 9 La Liga matches, Aubameyang has scored 8 goals, and such a brilliant performance has made Barca fans chant "Oreo combination is really fragrant" (Aubameyang + Osman Dembele).
First of all, we can see that when Dembele receives the ball, Aubameyang is in an offside position. A lot of old strikers like this, C Ronaldo and Suarez have this move.
The opposing defender sees you offside, do you follow up? Know that Dembele is not afraid of offside as long as he accelerates forward and passes backwards. So the defender needs to move ahead of time, so that Aubameyang has the first hand to observe the opponent's fall, the second run, bringing a seemingly easy goal.
Look at it from another angle, because the full-back at the back point is held back by Ferran Torres.
Aubameyang, who let the opposing centre-back fall first, emerged from behind Levante centre-back Pierre and into the middle of his position with Postigo.
In the tactical analysis of Barca's 4-0 victory over Real Madrid, we once talked about Dembele's passing is very distinctive. He can pass the ball at any time without adjusting his feet, and the pass is very accurate, specifically looking for a position between the two centre-backs. Pass over the head of the 1st person, in front of the 2nd person.
Aubameyang's tacit understanding with Dembele is that he can use Dembele's passing accuracy to drill into the sandwich of the opponent's two defenders.
It's easy to score the ball into the goal, and Aubameyang's movements before the goal need to be well observed, which is why he was able to become the top scorer in the Bundesliga and premier league in the past.
03. It's not just Dembele: Alba can deliver bread
If the striker is more powerful: Barca can score more goals
From the comparison of the data that created goals, it can be seen that after Xavi took over, Barça has not improved much compared to Koman's coaching period (the average expected goal per game has increased from 1.73 to 1.91).
The point is that the team's ability to take chances has greatly improved, and the difference between the expected goals and the actual goals scored, which was originally -5.5, is now +0.1 (indicating that if there is a better striker, it can be more powerful).
Look at this attack more than 100 seconds after Barca's first goal, Barca attracted the defense with the ball in midfield, giving Alba on the outside to get the chance to start.
Once again, Aubameyang has shown a superb art of movement, he is the first to plunge into the circle of 3 defenders, leaving the opponent in a state of paralysis (you are already surrounded by us!). ）
As a result, in the instant of Alba's cross, Aubameyang suddenly took a step sideways to shake off the opponent's 2 centre-backs.
Even at the moment when Alba sent the pass, Aubameyang had a retreating step, anticipating that his teammate's pass would be slightly behind in order to avoid Pierre at the front point.
The Barca players' passing points were really accurate, giving the opposing defender a blind spot every time. The point is that Aubameyang can also move, and every time he can understand it, he can take the knife and fork to the table.
Both are defending Aubameyang: Forget about Barca and Messi's successor
Looking at Barca's goal against the score, how did Garvey easily break through the box and then cross and assist Pedri's goal?
First of all, when Garvey took the ball, the other side specially assigned a player to limit Dembele, who was in a state of no-ball, for fear that it would be too late for him to take the ball and paste it.
At the same time, Levante set aside multiple people at the back point to limit Aubameyang, and even wasted a defender at the front point, for fear that Aubameyang would suddenly move and nod the ball forward.
So in the end Pedri scored another shot at the top of the penalty area arc was an accident? Levante would rather waste multiple people in front of the penalty area and was really scared by Barca's cross. As a result, I did not think that there was a Messi successor on the line of the big penalty area.
Barca's final goal is actually not a very complicated tactic. Alba gets cross space on the perimeter, and the opponent's iron barrel formation is difficult to cover this position.
The ball smashed into the box and Luke De Jong's header was deflected. This is the main theme of Harvey's game, and the way to end the attack is simple.
Harvey's team now exhibits a football philosophy of 1+1 greater than 2, and it is no surprise that the team remains unbeaten in 15 games.
Aubameyang is certainly not at the peak of his career at the moment, but the efficiency of scoring goals is staggering. In addition to asking Dembele to stay, he should also thank the talented coach who sits in barca's coaching position.
Conclusion:
Many Barca fans will cry regret that Xavi has been coaching the team a little late this season. But for the future of Barcelona, Xavi came in time.
If the team can further strengthen the center-back and forward positions next season, I believe That Harvey can bring more new content.