Tactical Analysis Barcelona vs PSV

Sept. 21, 2018, 2:08 p.m.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS BARCELONA-PSV

From the very beginning, Barcelona managed to control the ball in the match they played against the PSV for the Champions. Previous to this match, the PSV had delivered great results in the Dutch league, winning with ample scores, and consolidating their capacity to attack with many players with fast and offensive transitions.

But this time around, Barça players made the ball theirs right from the start, though they sometimes lacked rhythm circulating the ball, most of all during the first half. In the second half, they found a much more open rival, and that's when the Barça found the spaces and players such as Dembélé could shine.

OFFENSIVE PHASE

When attacking, Barça found the way out through the wings, mostly due to the high pressure made by the PSV wingers on Barça's midfielders. With an inside pass by the midfielders, they overcame the pressure and played on the wings.

In the midfield, Barça lined up in the shape of a diamond, interchanging positions to gather rival players in a cluster and find the spaces with the most distant player moving between lines.

Barça constantly attacked the left side with Coutinho and Dembélé and having Jordi Alba coming up to create dangerous plays. Suárez and Messi remained open on the other side to fix rivals players near them thus keeping them to assist in defence.

DEFENSIVE PHASE

Barça had to be specially careful with PSV's fast offensive transitions and were very successful at pressuring their rivals after losing the ball. They always managed to control the ball thanks to their most distant players, who were looking to attack and recover the ball in rival field.

Barça started out the Champions League in the best possible way, and they are up for a competition that has become a priority for this season.

All the analyses in this article were made using LongoMatch, the most complete Sports Analysis tool.