The League closes the day on Sunday with a real great game, a Barça-Girona in Montjuïc. A match at the top of the table and in which no one expected it, but the Girona team arrives ahead of the Blaugrana. Due to the game proposal of both teams, the spectacle is assured. Here are my tactical keys for this great match:
Two combinative proposals will face each other that seek to dominate the games based on ball possession as the first objective. In fact, it will be a face to face between the team with the most ball in the League (Barça with 62.4%) and the fourth (Girona with 56.5%). So the first key to the match will be who manages to impose their football. From Barça's point of view, the middle trio (they have only met twice this season) has to be an extra for the Blaugranas to be able to apply their football. All three have quality, understanding of the game and experience so that the team continues to grow from them.
If, as expected, Girona is faithful to its way of playing, it will try to come out in a clean and orderly manner from behind. Something that will make the defenders and the first line of midfielders of Míchel's team take risks at the start. And that is an aspect that Barça has to take advantage of by pressing in a coordinated and intense way. Something that was seen against Atlético de Madrid and that was not seen so much in the first games of the season.
Another interesting point will be to see where Xavi will place Ronald Araújo and Jules Koundé. And the Sávio effect can make the coach place the Uruguayan on the right to control the Brazilian talent a little better. On the other hand, it will be essential for the Blaugranas to be more forceful towards the rival goal than they were against Porto or Atlético de Madrid. In this sense, it will be decisive for the Barça interests if Lewandowski regains a better finishing tone.
The Venezuelan will be injured for the next six weeks and it is a serious loss for Míchel. The coach will have a difficult time overcoming the absence of what has represented the best “arrival” from the second line, since no other player in the squad has the profile of him. The Venezuelan has scored four goals and is, only behind Dovbyk, the one who finishes the most. In addition, he is the player who wins the most duels with an average of 2.5 per match. To reorganize the team, Míchel has several possibilities: the first, placing Tsygankov in the middle of the field and Yan Couto on the right wing. The second, advance David López to the middle of the field and, the third, opt for something not used until now (Ibrahima Kebé or Eric Garcia in the middle). The first of the keys lies, without a doubt, there.
One of Girona's most powerful weapons is its starts from behind. Míchel's team is the third team that spends the most time in its own field in the League (31%) and the fifth in short passes (475 per game). That is, it seeks to attract pressure from opponents to overcome them and then attack better and with more spaces. Therefore, it will be decisive that the team is careful in this and does not concede unforced errors that Barça can take advantage of. And every time the team can go out, it will be essential that the surveillance on the three attackers is good. Eric Garcia, Blind and David López will have a relevant role.
From Girona's point of view, it will be important to exploit the overflow of the most unbalanced player. Start from the left (the usual) or from the right (to look for Cancelo's back), Sávio's overflow can be key. He is the seventh player with the most passes in this League (2.2 successful dribbles per game). Especially if Míchel's team continues to exploit a move that has already generated many things this season: change of orientation from Aleix Garcia towards Sávio so that the Brazilian has a very favorable one-on-one. It is no coincidence that the Girona midfielder is, with a high record of 8.1 good diagonals per game, the field player who performs this action the most and best. As long as the team enters the area with many troops, as they usually do.
