Time for the second semi-final of this edition of the Spanish Super Cup. A title that, at the current moment, Barça reaches with great need. And after a season that to date is leaving certain doubts, this title would be a very important emotional injection. First step, overcome the always demanding Osasuna (8pm). These are my 5 tactical keys for this match:
Iñigo Martínez was injured against Barbastro and Cancelo will not arrive for this semifinal so the defensive line is short of strength. Furthermore, Balde is already recovered but is coming from an illness, so the conditions for tonight mean that Xavi has little room for maneuver at the back and that the rearguard is made up of Koundé, Araújo, Christensen and Balde in the format of three positional defenses ( the French on the right) and a lateral route on the left. Be that as it may, days are coming in which Koundé, Araújo and Christensen will have to have a lot of minutes. The three will be very important today since Osasuna is one of the teams that makes the most lateral crosses on the national scene (22 on average per game).
In Barbastro, Xavi gave the third warning to Joao Félix, lining him up with the "less important" team and substituting him in the decisive part of the match. The Portuguese's performance was once again very discreet. In the last three games, he has only accumulated 135 of the 270 possible minutes and has not beaten his marker in any of the seven dribbles he has attempted. It will be the first big game after this alert process and it will be interesting to see what the coach's decision is. In a Barça where every game gets out of control at some point, returning to the four pure midfielders would be a very appropriate option. Furthermore, the latest performances of Fermín López or Sergi Roberto may make the coach choose to apply it. That would leave Joao Félix out of the starting eleven to give him a role as a game revitalizer. A role in which he has performed remarkably.
Osasuna is another of those teams that has high pressure as one of the main points of its manual, so being good at the start of the game will be the first step to clarify the attacks. The second step will be something that cost the team a lot against Las Palmas: coordinating good breaks with passes into space. The team has to use good timing and more patience to occupy the last space through walls and third-man-up sequences. It is important not to be too vertical or rush. If Barça is good about it and learns from the recent lesson, it will generate head-to-head situations.
The Navarrese team jumps to all pressure when the rival enters the middle zone. Furthermore, through warm tilting movements, it causes the opponent to play on the wing to change speed and press aggressively. In Barça's structure, this will mean that they will wait for the ball to go to the side to try to corner the Blaugranas. And this is where they will have to have a very clear pass to overcome the pressure. One of the best help they can have is the unmarking of support from the interior of the same side or the unmarking of the teammate's own break.
To talk about the proper names of Osasuna, we must talk about Ante Budimir. He is the Navarrese team's finisher and a footballer who has a lot of shooting danger in the area. It is important to have him under control when rival attacks arrive from the wing because he knows how to win the finishing areas. He has scored 41% of the rojillos' total goals. Also mention Aimar Oroz, the most talented player in the middle of the field. At 22 years old, he has been a fixture for Jagoba Arrasate for some time. And on the other hand, it is important to remember how Osasuna's goal came in El Sadar. In a corner in which David García takes advantage of a block that is made because the Barça defense loses vision of the mark to focus only on the ball. A maneuver that should not be done in this type of action because it makes it impossible to overcome potential blockages.
