Barça wants and needs to close the last trip of 2023 by winning at Mestalla. The young and renewed Valencia de Baraja, as they already demonstrated by beating Atlético, will be a difficult opponent for a team that arrives at low times. Here are my 5 tactical keys for a transcendental meeting.
The doubts generated by the matches against Girona and in Antwerp make it essential to see changes in the starting team. Whether they are one, two or three, it is necessary for Xavi to send this football message to the group. In football, it is necessary to shake things up at times that the Barça team is experiencing right now. On the one hand, the names, but it would also be healthy to consider the possibility of changing the system. Or make some different tactical nuance. For example, taking into account that Valencia plays in a medium-low 4-2-3-1, return to the two offensive full-backs to look for two-on-one situations on the outside and achieve more offensive flow.
Valencia shows great weakness on the left wing. And several factors come together in that area. Firstly, the loss of Gayà has meant that the young Yarek is the one who occupies the left back. Then, because Fran Pérez has more of an offensive than defensive outlook and, finally, because the double pivot has a hard time getting help. Furthermore, the loss of Gabriel Paulista due to suspension means that the replacement will almost certainly be Diakhaby.
With an average of 23.1 years in their starting eleven, Valencia is the youngest eleven in the League. And that makes them an energetic but also fickle team. Barça has to be more patient than ever if the match does not open soon because the Valencian footballers will not negotiate any effort they need. But it is also notable that, during the tilts, they are very likely to become out of adjustment. It is difficult for them to maintain compaction of movements. Xavi’s men have to know how to play with that and take advantage of that mismatch when it occurs. As well as knowing how to wait for the game to mature since Baraja’s team will lower their performance. They usually do it. In fact, against Athletic, Getafe and Girona conceded a goal after the 80th minute.
The seven goals conceded in the last two games has highlighted what has been the team’s main problem this season. And the Blaugranas have conceded 24 goals in 22 official matches. That is, an average of 1.10 per game when, last season, the average was 0.52. Today is not going to be a clash in which the rival generates a lot of offensive flow. At least a priori. In fact, this Valencia is, with only 9.8 shots on average per game, the penultimate team in the League in doing so. But it is going to be a meeting of quick actions to resolve and good corrections in the transitions. And it is essential that Barça is very focused to solve these two aspects. One of the big goals tonight has to be not to fit in. Something that necessarily involves recovering good collective pressure and high individual attention without the ball.
Valencia will face the match with the loss of one of its most important players who have had the most impact in this League: Javi Guerra. But beyond him we must talk about two other names in this young Valencia. The first is Fran Pérez, a very skilled player, vertical and powerful with his legs. He is a good dribbler (1.40 good dribbles per game) and, above all, he is a great agitator of attacking football. Starting from the left midfielder of the 4-2-3-1 normally used by Rubén Baraja, he has one goal and three assists in this League. Highlight the season of Hugo Duro, a forward who had almost always acted as a double striker and who is now doing so as the only reference up front. And he has adapted fantastically well. He throws good shots into space and knows how to take advantage of everything the three midfielders do from behind. He is completing a magnificent season: seven goals and two assists certify it. Or what is the same, he has directly participated in more than half of Valencia’s goals. In addition, he is the one who draws the most fouls from the opponent (2.5 per game) and who shoots the most at the opponent (1.9 per game). The main dangers to minimize tonight.
