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But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Heading Manchester United by one goal to end the first half, Xavi's first hand at Old Trafford was a success. However, with Roberto's fitness declining, Barca lacked a key attacking tandem point in front, and Ten Hag's decisive take-in of the centre became a turning point in the game.

In particular, Barca's full-backs performed poorly defensively, and after Manchester United played an attacking rhythm, Barca without Pedri and Dembele were reversed, which is also a reasonable result.

01. Xavi lays out the winner: The division of labor among the four midfielders is reasonable

A. Roberto replaced Pedri's job: he did his best

Harvey is still very successful in terms of layout. Let Roberto play a quasi-forward back, and Balder and Rafinha spread the attacking width. At the same time, Casey frequently inserted forward, playing a tactical effect of a quasi-fulcrum in the ribs.

Manchester United's first attacking routine is not much, mainly to find the space behind Balder, allowing B Fei to get a few opportunities to cut forward.

Roberto's individual ability is indeed not strong, and his biggest feature is that his mind is clear and his movement is clear.

It was a very successful arrangement for Roberto to connect in the front and Kessie to the front for hand-to-hand combat opportunities, while De Jong, who ran fastest in midfield, to protect Sergio Busquets.

It is clear from the camera that Roberto received the ball on the right side without pausing to shift Balder on the left and played a good attacking width.

After the pass, Roberto did not pause and moved directly sideways, just taking advantage of the mezzanine between Manchester United's midfield and the back line. Take the ball twice and then move back to the right, Roberto's value is here. Unfortunately, Rafinha's shot felt bad in this game, and several long-range shots flew away.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Looking at the attack this time, it is still Roberto running wide without the ball to meet his teammates. The quality of Conde's direct ball was too low, but Roberto countered the ball at the first time, and Casey went straight to the ribs.

Roberto's biggest problem was that he lost his speed and lacked the ability to sprint, which was cleared by Lisandro Martinez.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

b. The four-midfield system must have at least one quasi-forward back

The presence of Busquets and Roberto, one in control and one run, also gives De Jong room to advance.

Similarly, Sergio Busquets turned slowly and Roberto suffered a serious decline in fitness, and De Jong could provide the element of speed around them, allowing the Barca midfielder in the first half to complete effective operations.

Barca need someone in attack to complete the tandem in the ribs and reduce the pressure on Lewandowski.

This time Roberto returned in front of the box, and Rafinha had another unmarked shot on goal, but unfortunately it still flew away.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Barca's goal came from a penalty, but it was essentially the result of Xavi's four-midfield strategy.

Kessie ribbed the ball and when Conde crossed on the wing, Roberto advanced into the box to attract the defense, giving Lewandowski and the back point Balde more space to receive the ball.

At the moment of Conde's cross, Roberto and Kessie were in excellent position, pinning down the five defenders of Manchester United, leaving Rafinha on the penalty area, Lewandowski on penalties and Balde at the back post, all in an empty position.

But if Conde's cross lands better, he can score directly this time (Conde's many crosses in this game are not good).

Conde's pass to Lewandowski was the most reasonable and acceptable to Balder at the back post, but the final landing point was too close to the head of the defender.

Fortunately, although the defender B Fei ran positively, his defensive skills were poor, and he unnecessarily pulled people behind his back to bring down Balde, allowing Barca to win a penalty opportunity and also allowing Lewandowski to score a goal.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

02. No good winger! The defensive weakness of Barca's style of play is at full-back

a. Barca's problems in the first half: Balder's sense of placement was too poor

Barca still had an offensive advantage in the first half, although the number of shots was 4-4, but Barca, who had nearly 60% of the ball, expected to score 0.93 to 0.58.

Bald produced penalties while advancing with a couple of good dribbles on the offensive end. But his defensive selection and sense of space were still too poor, and United's chances in the first half were almost always on his side.

Conde gave United the opportunity to fight back with another passing error, and Sergio Busquets' first interception was exhausted, compared to De Jong's flexibility and anticipation when extending his foot, which is not comparable to the old captain.

When B Fei cut forward, Balder could not keep up, and there was no one on this side to fill the position, but fortunately goalkeeper ter Stegen was brave and defused the opponent's single knife.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Balder's biggest problem is that he gives the other side the opportunity to attack repeatedly. This time it was another long pass that hit his defensive area, and it was still B Fei who got the opportunity to shoot.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

At the beginning of the second half, Barca's goal conceded was also related to Balde. Although De Jong failed to follow Fred in front, his choice was to retreat and defend the inside, relatively speaking, Balder should be one step closer to De Jong.

The basic principle of defense is to defend inside and outside, and from this point De Jong did not do well, but did not fall below the bottom line. Balder didn't seem to be too wrong, but he didn't do the basics.

De Jong's problem is his sense of crisis or deviation, many of the positions are painless and moderate choices, and at the same time there is no ability to stretch his feet in the movement, and there is not much other rescue ability except for direct tackles (which require charging time).

So when Fred happens to cut in between De Jong and Balder, the goal is inevitable.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

b. Manchester United after speeding up: Barca's full-backs can't stand it

The numbers can sometimes be deceptive, with Barca's top tack Busquets who made at least 4-5 key saves.

Conde, who tackles second, has more painless breaks, but in some key rounds, it has become a big colander.

In fact, it is understandable why Xavi let Conde play central defence in the last game, because he really does not have the ability to face the winger.

The first half was eaten raw by Marcus Rashford as an example, thankfully destroyed by Busquets behind him with a precise tackle.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

This time, Conde was broken by Fred all the way to his own half, and the extent of the decline in physical fitness can be compared with Roberto.

You must know that Conde's playing time in La Liga this season is only 8th in the team, and his problem is not the lack of rotation, but the irreversible decline in physical condition (after all, at Conde's peak age, there is no reason to prepare a special rotation for him).

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Xavi changed 433 after 1-1 because Roberto was physically exhausted. However, this magnified the problem of full-backs.

This time it was not Busquets who completed the rescue, and Conde did nothing about Ghanajo.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

03. Xavi is helpless: there are no backhand front and strong wingers available

a. Barca played poorly in the second half: the absence of Pedri and Dembele was helpless

Compared with the situation in the first half, Barca not only conceded 2 goals in the second half, but also trailed 2-8 in the number of shots, and the expected goals were only one-third of the opponent's.

Especially without a strong winger like Dembele, Ferran Torres and Rafinha could not really suppress the opposing formation, could not decompress the full-back, and Conde's weakness was further exposed.

Sergio Busquets' pass was beautiful this time, the problem was that De Jong was fast and fast, but the pass was mediocre after all.

De Jong's push at Ajax is to give the advancing core Ziyech or Tadic, the core of the attacking playmaking, after a few steps with the ball. Roberto came off the pitch, without Dembele, without Pedri, De Jong started easily with the ball in the attack, but always failed to pose a real threat.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

However, De Jong's speed is still very important for this Barca team in midfield. What is impressive is that this time the catch-up, in the open situation, if De Jong is placed in a relatively low position, he can solve the problem point-to-point.

De Jong's defense is characterized by chasing and confrontation for people with the ball, but he is not good at intercepting lines and positioning, and how to use him well requires coaches to develop their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

b. Variant 433 is helpless: not what Harvey wanted

Replacing Roberto with Ferran Torres was helpless for Xavi. If there is Pedri or Garvey, it must be one of them who replaced Roberto.

After Roberto's fitness declined, Barca lacked a tandem front (you can basically understand Roberto's value by looking at the heat map), and the attack was cut off. After abandoning the four midfielders, the advantage of the density of personnel in the middle is also gone, and the shortcomings of the full-backs on both sides are further amplified.

Manchester United's second goal, Conde did not do well, and the rest is actually Manchester United's replacement of the center forward and the advantage of using multiple full-forwards (Barca have no means to counteract, not that Xavi does not understand).

They have more lateral contacts and more players who can accelerate running, and Barca just happened to reduce another central midfielder, further enlarging the space, and achieving Anthony's beautiful shot.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Manchester United are not a good defensive team, and after Barca gained possession advantage, they actually had scoring opportunities.

Ferran Torres went straight to Lewandowski this time, which was an excellent chance to equalize, and the result was that the quality of the shot was average, and it was saved by Varane on the goalline.

But make the red and blue double core in, do not teach Manchester United to win the reversal! Barça lost a little unjustly

Conclusion:

Without Dembele, without Pedri, and even without Garvey, Xavi still played at a good level and won the lead with this set of four midfield plays.

On the road to building a team, Xavi's trust in Comte has always been a mistake. Even if he himself realizes this and tries to cover up the loopholes as much as possible in the key game, but in the two-legged game against Manchester United, Conde showed his different flaws in the position of central defender and right-back, which made people sigh.

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