Tactical split of Barcelona 3-0 win against Liverpool

In the most anticipated match of the season, Barcelona won 3-0 against Liverpool in the opening game of the semi-finals of the Champions League. The competition between the newly crowned Liga champions and one of the best English teams in attack this decade was up to par. For two teams accustomed to tearing their opponents this season, they have all been put to the test in what turned out to be a tactical chess match associated with superb world class gaming demonstrations. .

Jurgen Klopp's team played in a 4-3-3 formation that also alternated with a 4-3-1-2 setup. Roberto Firmino's exclusion from the starting lineup meant that Liverpool's attack would be even more dependent on his wingers' game. Liverpool, a specialist in the orchestration of menacing counter-attacks, is counting on his midfield trio to control the pace of play and rise to the surface when the opportunity arises. The only notable inclusion in defense was at the back right where Joe Gomez had been selected, which required him to retain Jordi Alba and Philippe Coutinho on the left flank.

As expected, Ernesto Valverde elected for a 4-3-3 formation for Barca who moved to a 4-4-2 defense configuration. His decision to start Arturo Vidal on Arthur was a minor surprise, but with Vidal's game recently associated with his defensive prowess, this decision was a low-risk and highly profitable decision.

The main topic of discussion for the confrontation was the pressing and relentless configuration of Liverpool. Liverpool is arguably one of Europe's most efficient dry-cleaning teams, as its ability to hold space on the ground and recover the ball has allowed many counter-attacks to lead to goals that will change the game. And of course, all eyes were on Virgil van Dijk and how he would lead the Liverpool backline.

At first, it was obvious that Klopp was going to stick to the identity of his team and maintain a high pressure system. His main focus for this match was around two tasks: trapping and congesting. For a possession-based team like Barca, the last thing Liverpool would like to do is let them play as best as they can with their system.

Discover here how Liverpool defended himself in his own half of Barca.

Under this high compact line Liverpool sought to reduce the space available on the ground for the Barca. The back of Liverpool rarely left his position, as he was counting on the front lines to easily support and recover the ball. Once Liverpool has taken possession of the ball, it can make room for a quick attack counterattack. With this installation, Klopp was categorical: the Barca was not going to dominate possession of the ball and complete more than 700 passes, which was the norm.

As noted here, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho are leaving their ranks in anticipation of Busquets' arrival from a Spades pass. This was the original theme because the Liverpool midfielder had a high work rate due to constant pressure and his goal of cutting the passing lanes.

Barca are not at all new to dealing with teams that use an urgent system. Throughout this season, teams such as Real Madrid, Sevilla and especially Real Betis have used a variant of the pressing system to disrupt the style based on the possession of Barca. In these games, Barca relied on counter-attacks and exploiting the space between the lines to open the game and position himself in a promising way in the offensive third.

As seen here, Barca gave the example of a way to counter a strong press. With Jordi Alba equalizing in his half against Liverpool, he is able to find Suarez in an open space for a quick start.

This first sequence in the first few seconds of the game proved to be an anomaly for Barca throughout the first half. Barca has never been comfortable in the possession of the cause because of Liverpool's pressing tactical configuration. Liverpool's constant field trips and their task of reducing the passing lanes of Barca's top three heads helped contain his offensive game plan.

Barca was more conservative in his offensive approach in the first period. Messi, Suarez and Coutinho were not as keen to support the midfielder in the fight against the Liverpool press. Instead, Barca relied heavily on Messi's dribbling and Alba's passes to get the ball out of his defensive half. Even after Suarez's first goal, the Barca kept his 4-3-3 form, but lacked steady motions off the ball to free space in the field.

On the other side, the Barca was zoned to contain Liverpool's attack. Barca also used a high line at times throughout the game, but much relied on Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic to score and press. The key to Barca was obviously their bottom line, which is part of their greatest strengths recently.

The inclusion of Georginio Wijnaldum on Roberto Firmino was an important factor in the match. With this in mind, Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet focused more on controlling the space of Liverpool wingers. They knew that Wijnaldum would not play as a traditional striker, even though he was positioning himself as a center forward. So, if the Barca could stop traffic on the flanks, it would essentially force Liverpool to become a one-dimensional attack unit.

An example of this appeared in the first half as Wijnaldum moved deep from his sideline and played the role of fake nine.

See here how Pike notices him and asks Roberto to cover Wijnaldum. As a result, Pique strayed to closely mark how Sadio Mane defended Vinicius Junior earlier this season in El Clasico matches. As Barca begins to overflow, Pique asks Roberto to move to cover Mane, while Pique marks the interior space.

Communication was the key to the Barca's background, which was to closely monitor Liverpool's off-ball movement and its forward position. While Liverpool managed to get behind Barca's record several times, Pique and his company have for the most part been able to contain the available space in their third defensive line.

In the second half, Liverpool maintained their 4-3-3 setup and remained aggressive in picking up the ball. On the other hand, Valverde made a tactical change to form 4-4-2, Nelson Semedo replacing Philippe Coutinho. The move was taken into account for Coutinho's lack of presence in possession of the ball and for Liverpool's continued participation in the flank attack.

Nevertheless, Liverpool continued to obstruct potential overtaking lanes inside. Find out here how Fabinho and Henderson step in to squeeze Busquets and contain space in the front.

But later in the second half, Barca started to be more aggressive in finding overtaking lanes for Messi and Suarez. In the 4-4-2 configuration, Barca seemed more advantageous on the counter. More importantly, they were looking to control the tempo of the match and sneak between the lines of Liverpool midfielder. Barca showed signs of lengthening Liverpool's background by involving Alba and Semedo, but they continued to focus on developing the game from the inside.

Messi's goal is an example: the game was set up thanks to Busquets who found Messi behind the center of the Liverpool field with an open space available to sneak up front.

Barca's second goal finally opened the match for Blaugrana. Liverpool wanted to keep the score, but once Messi had scored an ethereal free-kick goal, they had all tried to score a decisive goal on the outside.

In the end, Liverpool held up well, but the Barca deserved the 3-0 win. Valverde's setup emphasized patience when in possession of the ball to capture the ideal opportunity to attack quickly or quickly. Defensively, the Barca was superb as Pique and Lenglet combined 21 defeats and three interceptions, while Vidal was all over the field to disrupt Liverpool's pace of play.

With the return leg coming next week, Valverde will have the intriguing decision to opt for a 4-3-3 formation with Ousmane Dembele as a starting left winger or a 4-4-2 set up with Vidal and Arthur at the start . Regardless of the formation, the Barca will have to increase the intensity at Anfield as Liverpool will put pressure from the start keeping in mind the stimulus potential for promising counterattack opportunities.