Barça will end an uncomfortable and long week by visiting Balaídos. The Catalans arrive without any margin for another slip. A margin that the local team does not have either, which arrives as seventeenth and with the need to add. It seems like a complicated match. Here are my five tactical keys for this match:
The first tactical question for today is whether Xavi will again try some tactical or role change to achieve defensive stability not achieved so far. The inclusion of Andreas Christensen as a defensive pivot left good feelings and a greater degree of solidity against Alavés, but he fell behind against Granada. So the first unknown is there because another possibility would be to give confidence to this formula. Be that as it may, Xavi’s decision will be highly important. Because the team cannot break down like it is doing in 2024 (23 goals conceded in 10 games) and because the decisive Champions League tie against Naples is only four days away.
Celta is the team in the League to which rivals have made the most short passes. And both due to the game system (5-3-2 or 4-4-2) and the type of players it has, it is a team that can be combined relatively easily. It will be important for the Barça team to maximize this factor for two main reasons. The first, because this is the scenario in which Barça feels most comfortable and, the second, because when a team plays a lot short, it is more compact and more solid. And right now, this Barça really needs to regain firmness as a team and improve its defensive data.
The most obvious entry opportunity will be in the interior hallways. Those that are generated between the center backs and the wingers. Because the former have a clear tendency to compress inside while, on the contrary, the wingers like to jump to the side. That is where the explanation is why these spaces are generated repetitively for Celta. Of course, good circulation must first be generated so that the imbalance is greater. It is no coincidence that Betis, Girona or Barça themselves in the first leg managed to score a goal against those entering through this lane. So today it will be important to insist on indoor internships to look for opportunities.
Although Celta does not take many risks in the construction of the game when they have the ball, they do try to come out and try to come out with the ball played on some occasions. But it is not a precise team in the links. So it is likely that the Barça team will have situations to navigate. And when they happen, you should not hesitate to run since the system of three center backs plus two lanes of the light blues leaves outside spaces when they deploy to attack. If the Catalans identify these situations and go with determination, they can find the goal too.
For everything he generates, the Norwegian is already a fundamental piece in Celta. Good proof of this is that he has played in all 24 League games. He is a big footballer but he doesn’t move badly in space. He has a shot (2.2 on average per game) and an aerial game that makes him very dangerous in crosses into the area or in the strategy in favor. With nine goals and two assists he is Celta’s player with the greatest offensive capacity. Also talk about Luca de la Torre. Left-handed, dynamic and quality. He can associate well with the players around him as well as get into the box. And finally, highlight the ex-Azulgrana Óscar Mingueza. Because he is having a good season and because of his ‘new’ position. And Benítez has placed him as a winger on the right in the defense of five and, in many match situations, he performs winger or even right-back roles on the inside.
