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Camp Nou hosted Villarreal on Sunday night having previously been held to a 1-1 draw at Wanda Metropolitano. With Atletico Madrid being held by Girona in a 1-1 draw, Barcelona had the chance to extend their lead over Los Colchoneros. They also had the opportunity to take the top spot in the table with Sevilla and Alaves set to play later in the night.
Villarreal, only just clear from the relegation zone, had the chance to move a bit higher with a win to 15th spot. History was certainly on the side of La Blaugrana. Villarreal had failed to defeat Barcelona in their previous 18 meetings prior to the game. Based on current form too, Villarreal couldn't hope for much, having failed to win their previous three away games before coming to the Camp Nou.
FC Barcelona started with the same starting 11 that they used against PSV midweek. Arthur, Suarez, and Umtiti were still unfit to compete. Villarreal lined up in what initially looked like a 4-2-3-1 formation. Fornals and Chukwueze on the flanks, Cazorla, Caceres and Trigueros in the middle and Gerard Moreno being the lone man up front.
Gerard Pique was the first person to get on the scoresheet. He scored from Ousmane Dembele's delivery into the box soon after the half-hour mark. Barcelona couldn't make any chances count till Lionel Messi's through ball sent Alena clear. The former Barca B captain beautifully chipped it over Asenjo to seal Barcelona's victory.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#5 Villarreal get some early chances but doesn't make Barcelona pay
In the first half, Barcelona hardly gave the ball away. Villarreal waited for their opportunity and managed to get Barcelona on the retreat on two to three occasions. But when they did, they did not make most of the opportunity. Gerard Moreno did hit the post but that was the only real threat made.
On other occasions, Villarreal players couldn't threaten Ter Stegen. They shot from outside the box either straight to the keeper or way off the target. In the second half, they tried to sustain possession but they simply couldn't find a way through. Their early chances were as close as they could get. But they did not capitalise.
In other words, Villarreal waited in the bushes like a sniper but the sniper had a very bad aim and intent.
#4 FC Barcelona finally manage a clean sheet
How many days have we been waiting for this? Barcelona was one of the toughest defences in Europe last season, hardly conceding much. But this season, their utterly poor defence just wouldn't let Ter Stegen keep a clean sheet.
As a fact of the matter, the Blaugrana had conceded at least once in each of their previous 11 LaLiga games. Their worst run since 1998. However yesterday they looked solid. Arturo Vidal and Sergio Busquets did a whole lot of dirty work combining to win a total of five aerial duels and six tackles.
The only major error on Barcelona's part was the one occasion when Lenglet and Ter Stegen failed to communicate. Other than that, Villarreal never really threatened the defence. Their proceedings were halted before they started by the midfielders. Pique and Lenglet kept their cool against whatever crosses Villarreal had to offer.
Gerard Pique had a mammoth performance winning three aerial duels and three tackles. He also made crucial blocks from the shots. Not to mention, his goal that gave Barcelona the lead. Marc Andre Ter Stegen faced only two shots on target, the other 10 put off by the defensive efforts. Villarreal never got in behind the defence and finally, Barcelona has a clean sheet.
#3 Phillipe Coutinho's looks really uncomfortable in the left wing
The Barcelona coach should realize this quickly. Coutinho is very much out of ideas on the left wing. His area of operation, whatever it is, is not doing much justice to his ability or his contribution to the team. The Brazilian was hardly an influence on the pitch and could be labelled as the worst Barcelona player on the night.
He never really got the hang of things in the flank. We did not see him take his trademark outside the box curlers. He was dispossessed on two occasions but he hardly made use of the possession he had, 5% of the total team possession. He gave the ball away cheaply or failed to read the pass, which wouldn't count as a dispossession on stats.
Something is not right about the positioning. He couldn't be involved in build-up plays, couldn't link up with the midfield and importantly couldn't shoot. Jordi Alba needs a lot of space in the left side, which is pushing him out of position into the half-space. And even though he should be good at the half space, he has not got the instructions for what to do from there.
Perhaps, Coutinho will be better off in the central midfield area or move more centrally into the pitch as Alba comes in. He is neither in the middle nor in the flanks which is not good for Barcelona. Hope that Barcelona sorts this issue out, this is a good player who is underperforming at the moment.
#2 Can Barcelona create chances when Lionel Messi is not in full throttle?
It might seem like Barcelona are underperforming after Messi came into the team. But it isn't really his fault as well. Then what's wrong? Well, when Lionel Messi comes out with intent to win the game, Barcelona would seem like vintage Barcelona. Against Tottenham, they had a mammoth game, the same thing against Sevilla, they put the game out of the reach within the first 15 minutes.
But when Lionel Messi is not showing the amount of intensity on the pitch, which is more of his usual self, Barcelona are struggling. Almost every attack has to go through him. Every player wants to link-up with Messi. No matter who, Vidal, Rakitic, Coutinho, Alba, Dembele or Suarez if he was there. Messi has to be the creator in chief every time. In games like yesterday, when Messi hardly seemed interested in the game, Barcelona have to try something new.
When the team trusts him too much, he tends to give away possession, misplaces passes and starts trying too much himself. For example, how many chances did Jordi Alba have to pick out a person better than Messi in the box?
But he didn't, he always went for Leo, even if the angles were bad or he was smothered. Messi did not ask for the pass as well. Barcelona's only creation of a goal was from Messi. In no other occasion was a player free behind the defence. Messi picked Alena out with an inch-perfect through ball to seal the deal.
That is Messi. You cannot trust him to press the opposition while defending or just pass to him every time even when more options are available. If I recollect correctly, Messi missed a peach of a through pass which could have let Coutinho free. But why did the pass have to be to him in the first place? Semedo could indeed have lobbed it over anticipating Coutinho's run. Fix this gaffer, fix this.
#1 Ousmane Dembele found his spot in the right wing
How the tables have turned. Not long before, Spanish media and newspapers were roasting Ousmane Dembele for his attitude and discipline. And three games after the international break, he has come up guns blazing, shutting his critics up and helping his team.
Dembele enjoyed himself on the pitch, didn't he? He was so confident on the ball. He has an unreal amount of pace that Villarreal never got the better of. The prime mischief maker in the right wing, he made a deadly combination in the right wing with Semedo, running in behind a lot of times. He created the goal for Gerard Pique.
From the right wing, he could burst at any moment and he would be in behind the defence. The only thing that lacks is choice of the final pass or maybe hesitation to shoot. That would not take much time to fix. The Camp Nou applauded their gem every time he touched the ball and cheered his dribbles.
He might not have the weak foot but still is much better in operating in the right wing. Since Alba would demand space, Dembele would have to move into the half-space where he is not deadly. Even when Suarez returns, Valverde shouldn't look to change Dembele's position. A 4-4-3 with Suarez on the left and then moving towards centre shouldn't be that bad. The only reason, the experienced ones are better to be put out of position than youngsters.
Camp Nou enjoyed him, he enjoyed himself, did you?
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