Ahead of the Champions League Final on Saturday, I asked Mihir Hombalkar (@mihir_h) to look at Barcelona and assess their potential tactics and formation.
Manchester United face Barcelona in what promises to be a mouth-watering Champions League final at Wembley on 28thMay. Pep Guardiola’s current Barca side are rightly considered to be one of the greatest footballing sides of all time. In Guardiola’s 3 years in charge of the Catalan giants, Barca have won 9 trophies and will be looking to make it 10 on 28thMay. Standing in their way is a United side which will be keen to show they have learnt their lessons from the 2-0 humbling in the 2009 final in Rome. United were written off by many at the start of the season but have proved critics wrong yet again by winning a record 19th Premier League crown and reaching their 3rd Champions League final in the last 4 years. Beating this current Barcelona side will surely rank amongst one of Sir Alex’s finest achievements with the United boss having claimed time and again that United’s European record should be better. So, what exactly are United up against, can they do it at Wembley??
The Barca Players
Led by arguably the finest player in the world at the moment Lionel Messi, the Barcelona side likely to play at Wembley could consist of as many as 8 players who have come through ‘La Masia’, the famed youth academy of Barcelona. With World cup winners like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in midfield, Gerard Pique and skipper Carles Puyol in defence, the Barcelona side is solid in all departments. Messi will spearhead the attack and has scored 52 goals this season in all competitions, with 11 of those coming in the Champions League. Summer signing David Villa has added more potency to the attack line and has scored 22 goals in all competitions, while another ‘La Masia’ product Pedro has scored 21 goals in all competitions. Dani Alves, who joined Barca in the summer of 2008 has been a success at Right Back whilst chipping in with his share of goals and assists, while Javier Mascherano who joined from Liverpool in the summer has slowly settled in after some forgettable performances at the start of the season. Victor Valdes, whilst shaky at times is a good goalkeeper and has been the number 1 GK for years.Ibrahim Afellay, Bojan, Seydou Keita have played their part when needed and should start on the bench at Wembley.
Subs: Ruben Mino, Mascherano, Thiago, Keita, Jeffren, Afellay, Bojan
Barcelona's starting XI is unlikely to have any real surprises. Javier Mascherano, who started both the legs of the semi finals at Centre Back is expected to be start on the bench with Carles Puyol, who played as a Left Back then moving alongside Gerard Pique at the heart of defence. Eric Abidal, back in the side after a successful surgery on a liver tumor is expected to start at Left Back.Dani Alves loves bombing forward from Right Back and with Messi has formed a formidable partnership on Barca's right wing. Sergio Busquets will sit in front of the back 4, with Xavi and Iniesta, dictating play in midfield. The Catalan's style of 'possession football' has seen them garner praise from many. Barcelona have average 65% possession in all the games they have played so far this season. Xavi, who is the main architect of Barca's midfield averages over 100 passes a game.
Lionel Messi will start on the right of a three man front line, with Pedro Rodriguez on the left and David Villa in the centre. However, all three can interchange positions and are difficult to pick up. Messi and Pedro like to cut inside while David Villa can drift wide.
United have one of the best defence in Europe and defensively United will have to be on top. United's defensive form in Europe has been impressive as illustrated by the record 6 clean sheets they have kept away from Old Trafford. Patrice Evra and Ji Sung Park will have the most important task, of keeping Messi quiet.
Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs, who had forgettable games two years ago will have to maintain their impressive recent form in the center of midfield.. Antonio Valencia will be a real danger man for Barcelona, his pace and strength has troubled most defenders and United will need him to have a good game if they are to get past Barca. Barcelona's full backs also press high up the pitch in particular Dani Alves and United should look to make the most of the possession we get, something we didn't do 2 years ago in Rome.
Barca's all out attacking style of play leaves them slightly weak at the back and United do have the resources to exploit it. Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique struggle against strikers with pace and Javier Hernandez gave the former a torrid time when Mexico and Spain met in a friendly match in August and also ended up on the scoresheet. Finally, Wayne Rooney will have to have the game of his life if United hope to win. Rooney is likely to start behind Hernandez and will have to carry out both offensive and defensive duties. United will also have to be lethal in front of goal.
Barcelona are the best footballing side in the world currently but are far from unbeatable and with United looking to make amends after their loss 2 years ago, its not often the best manager in the business gets it wrong twice.
Please leave any comments below and feel free to follow Mihir on Twitter where he will also respond to any questions you may have.
Many thanks to Mihir for taking the time to put this post together.
Great work guys :) Since Barca is likely to enjoy more possession, fast and effective counter attack will be the way to beat them i reckon with we do have the players to do exactly that,as Mihir mentioned, Barca are good, but not unbeatable and effects of having small sqaud has been evident in their recent performances,hopefully this will play into our hands, Cheers :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't Pinto suspended for the game?
ReplyDeleteMoreover Messi usually plays a false nine with pedro on the right and villa on the left, but you're right, they switch a lot.
Nice blog thus, really looking forward to the game.
@Sudhi
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Lot of their players have been playing non stop last 3 years and the effects have showed in recent weeks. Hopefully we can capitalize on that . Thanks for your comment :)
@Johannes
ReplyDeletejust checked it out and you are right, Pinto is suspended. thought it is just a one game ban as he was sent off in the first leg but he does miss out.
re Mess: he does start on the right most of the times but likes to move central as the game goes on. All three are very flexible and can start anywhere in attack. Will be difficult to pick their movement, hope our defenders can do the job.
Cheers for your feedback :)