Leganes 1-2 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis | La Liga 2019-20

#3 Ernesto Valverde’s two-man midfield experiment falls flat

Frenkie de Jong struggled in a two-man midfield

Ernesto Valverde sprung a surprise when he fielded four attack-minded players for the trip to the Butarque with Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets functioning as the midfield pairing. The change deviated quite a bit from the Spaniard’s usual 4-3-3 formation, meaning that plenty of fans waited with bated breath to see how the experiment would play out. Unfortunately for Valverde though, it didn’t work out as expected, especially in the first half where the visitors barely laid a glove on the hosts.

The two-man midfield meant that Busquets and de Jong were tasked with protecting the defence whereas they also shouldered the burden of forming the link between defence and attack.

However, with the Spaniard’s lack of pace in transition a constant worry nowadays, the Dutchman’s attacking instincts were reined in, thereby forcing Barcelona to play at a slower tempo and wait for one of their forwards to drop deep.

On most occasions, Messi did so but that allowed the hosts to crowd out the Argentine in midfield, a ploy that also left Suarez isolated, considering Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele were hugging the touch-line.

Ever since Valverde has been at the helm, the Blaugrana have been slightly culpable of operating at a pedestrian pace, meaning that their approach play has often seemed lackadaisical.

And, though he tried to correct that particular aspect by opting for four outright attackers, it only ended up complicating his conundrum even more.