Quote:
Originally Posted by Serenity Now
Interesting team from Guardiola: Valdes; Mascherano, Puyol, Adriano; Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets; Alexis, Messi, Cuenca y Pedro.
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Fascinating performance from Barca. When they lost the ball, they were defending with four, with Busquets dropping into the defensive line alongside Mascherano, but once they won possession they were often leaving just Mascherano back on his own, with Adriano and Puyol playing more as fullbacks than wide centre backs - frequently even overlapping the wingers. Four forwards, with Cuenca and Pedro both staying very wide at all times to stretch the pitch horizontally, in the style of a van Gaal team; Messi playing just behind Alexis in the middle. Xavi made a lot of penetrative runs beyond the two centre forwards too, a lot more than usual, even for this season - could've scored two or three goals.