Barcelona vs Valencia Tactical Analysis and Performance

Ronald Koeman has undoubtedly surprised many with his tactical decisions for the game against Valencia. In attack, Barcelona deployed a 4-3-3 formation with Sergino Dest, amazingly, as the right winger.

This move from the coach worked really well, as the American was able to provide the width the Catalans lacked in the previous matches.

In defence, things got even more complicated. Depending on the situation, Blaugrana were defending in a 5-3-2 formation (with Dest as the right wing-back and Sergi Roberto as the right centre-back) or 4-4-2 (with Dest as the right midfielder and Gavi as the left midfielder).

This asymmetric, flexible formation played a big role in Barca being able to secure the win, that is for sure.

Tactics score: 9/10

Teamwork

Blaugrana still have to improve in many aspects if they want to look like a solid unit. Koeman's team did not press too well, as they preferred to sit back and wait whenever Valencia got the ball under control.

A similar problem was visible in attack as well, as most of our chances came not from thought-out link-up play but rather from moments of individual brilliance.

It was the case in Ansu Fati's goal, and in Philippe Coutinho's goal, with the credit going to Dest in the second episode.

Teamwork score: 4/10

Finishing

Not much to dwell upon here as the Catalans didn't really create that many chances after all.

Maybe there have been instances when our attackers should have went for a pass instead of trying to score themselves, but other than that, there is little to complain about.

Finishing: 7/10

Team spirit

The squad seems to lack concentration at times and some players can be caught losing focus in the defensive plays. It happened right at the start when nobody even tried to cover Jose Gaya's shot from outside the box.

Then, in the second half, a blunder from Eric Garcia led to another dangerous attack from Valencia, with Carlos Soler hitting the post.

Normally, you would expect a senior figure like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets or Marc-Andre ter Stegen to step in wake up those players who are caught slacking off. However, we saw nothing like that.