Trios and tridents have been many and very good in football. Xavi, without going any further, was part of one of the most admired midfielders in recent history along with Busquets and Iniesta. Later, after the goodbye from Egarense, the team clung to the forward formed by Messi, Suárez and Neymar. And although it was undone in 2017 and none of the three attackers has worn a Blaugrana since 2021, Barça has not yet managed to return to its essence and return the pre-eminence to the midfielders.
The coach Xavi is trying and in San Sebastian he tried a new system to populate the center of the field and manage to dominate the game and create play. Without Busquets, he opted for a double pivot, with De Jong and next to him first Gavi, and then Pedri. Ahead were two midfielders on the inside: Ferran Torres and, initially, the Canarian, later the Andalusian.
The truth is that the result cannot be classified as a resounding success. On the one hand, he did match forces with Real, who plays with a diamond. But on the other, the team only managed to monopolize the ball and have a break from 1-3, in the last 20 minutes.
The particularity of Xavi's idea is that he did not arrange the four midfielders in a diamond shape, as Cruyff did (Guardiola, Amor, Eusebio and Bakero at the top) or as Guardiola also tried (Busi, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc or Thiago) . But there were two men on the base.
The squares in the engine room are not new but they are making a comeback. The drawing of Barça in the Reale Arena (not the execution) reminded Le Carré Magique that Michel Hidalgo invented in the French team in the eighties, which led to being proclaimed champion of Europe (1984) and was a World Cup semi-finalist twice ( 1982 and 1986). The coach dared to join Luis Fernández with Tigana, Giresse and Platini, four technical players. "We will have the ball", was his slogan. The first two retrieved and activated, Giresse supplied, and the 10th created and terminated. His rapport was the key.
In Germany 2006, Brazil defended the World Cup that it had won four years earlier. He was the big favorite as Scolari had added Kaká and Adriano to the champion team. To introduce them, he chose to protect himself with Gilberto Silva and Zé Roberto as stoppers and give Ronaldinho and Kaká freedom in the midfield. Ronaldo and Adriano stayed upstairs. Despite all the stars, the middle square did not turn out well. Ronaldinho, who had just won the Champions League with Barça, didn't even score. Brazil beat Croatia, Australia, Japan and Ghana but lost 0-1 in the quarterfinals against France.
Now, Barcelona is not the only team that is using the drawing of the two midfielders and the two midfielders. Something similar is being implemented by Christophe Galtier at PSG. Mbappé makes nine and the bands are for Achraf and Nuno Mendes, the lanes. For the center, Verratti and Vitinha are the organizers. And Messi and Neymar, who have left the ends, are positioned as links to supply Kylian. For now, the tactic works. The Parisians have thus scored 17 goals in the first three days.
It remains to be seen if Xavi will give him continuity against Valladolid this Sunday, with Busquets already available after serving a penalty.
