A Barça in full football improvement will visit a team in full football and emotional high after being confirmed as one of the finalists of the Cup. One of the most powerful exits of the championship and a scenario where they were already eliminated from the Cup. Today the reissue in the league. Lots of tactical fabric for it. Here are my 5 keys for this great meeting:
With Xavi who has made clear in recent weeks both the team type and the tactical structure with which he will go until the end of the season, only a couple of doubts. The first, in the central axis. In other circumstances, this match would be a clear bet on the entry of Íñigo Martínez but, Pau Cubarsí's performance against Getafe also gives the youth squad options. Due to the peculiarity of the match and the fact that Cubarsí is not exposed in every game, the first is the most probable. Three quarters of the same happens at the top with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. The young Barça pearl is a clearly superior footballer to the Brazilian, but his youth and Raphinha's good performance against a high defense like Getafe's, give him some options to start. Whatever the case, one of them will start the game and the other will finish it. Lamine has more integers to be a starter.
With a total of 1,633 recoveries, Athletic is the team with the most recoveries in the championship. He is also the one who neutralizes the most balls in the opposite field. And Valverde's men have energy, legs and a willingness to press. Right now, the best pressure in the League. The first goal conceded in the Cup match comes after a recovery by Athletic and Thursday's Cup match against Atlético was an exhibition of collective pressure from the lions. So today will once again be a real test for ball release. Because Athletic will put pressure in pairs and, especially, very intensely on Ronald Araújo. It will be important for the Uruguayan to think before receiving and for the midfielders as well as the distant players to offer passing lines.
Valverde's team is a very active team with a lot of pace. Both offensively and defensively. With the ball it is a vertical and very dynamic set. And without the ball, a team that responds to all stimuli. He always has the will to recover the ball by bringing together the closest players in the ball zone. But this causes imbalances in distant areas. And that is an aspect of the game that Barça has to take advantage of. They have problems stopping all those shots that occur at the far post or even past the far post. These are the uncovered areas that today can lead to favorable scoring situations. It will be essential for the Barça attackers to be aware of this weakness and to always reach the parallel finishing zones when the offensive play goes on the other wing.
It will be a match in which there will be a multitude of duels, rejections, second plays and quick actions within the area. And Barça will have to be very, very involved in the game. In addition to that, when the team is defending the area, all those involved will have to take care of their profiles with respect to their marks and take responsibility for their team. Barça is superior offensively but everything depends on equalizing the level of tension and winning a good percentage of duels.
Athletic has very important casualties (Yuri, Vivian and especially Nico Williams) but still has players of a very high level. The first is Alex Berenguer. The attacker has taken advantage of the losses to be an important piece in Valverde's team. He is in magnificent form. He has three goals and an assist in the last five games. He can play on both wings but today, surely, he will play on the left. His second proper name is Gorka Guruzeta. The forward has finally managed to become the lions' goal man. He is a very hard worker both in pressing and unchecking and is fine this season. With ten goals in the League, he is the team's top scorer and has a success rate (42% of his shots on goal are goals). He has just scored in the Cup. And finally, highlight Athletic's highest level footballer, Oihan Sancet. And he is a total midfielder. His ability to deploy combines with his playing skills between the lines and his status as a finisher. Three goals, five assists and 1.5 key passes on average per game. Valverde subtracted 15 minutes in the Cup so, the most likely thing is that he will repeat the title. Barça's defensive behavior will have to be magnificent tonight.
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