Barcelona Continue Their Struggles with Deeper Lying Defences

When Barcelona took the field against APOEL Nicosia it would be a fairly safe bet that a two-thirds-full Camp Nou expected goals. Lots of them.

The supposed "whipping boys" of UEFA Champions League Group F were anything but in another evening of struggle for the Catalans against a team who were content to sit and hold defensively rather than making a conscious effort to come out and play.

It's a familiar theme that has manifested itself on a much more regular basis over the last couple of seasons as opposition teams settle for a damage limitation exercise.

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Whilst it can often make for a much less entertaining spectacle, continued employment of the tactic isn't a surprise.

We saw again tonight how effective it can be as Barca, with 72 percent possession per WhoScored and eight shots to APOEL's solitary effort, almost lost two points to an equaliser at the death.

Luis Enrique had taken the option to give some of Barcelona's youngsters a run out in a sure sign that he expected a relatively easy night's work.

In Sergi Samper, Barca boasted the first academy graduate to play for the club at every level from the U6 Escola team right through to the senior side. A truly monumental achievement.

He acquitted himself excellently on his competitive debut, playing the full 90 minutes, and on this form he is clearly a player for the present, not the future.

Another Sergi, Roberto, flattered to deceive once more, and there would appear to be a very definite and obvious need to start to justify his contract extension, announced earlier in the day, via FCBarcelona.com.

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In the meantime, he and his colleagues need to find the answer to the "parking the bus" conundrum. Deeper lying defences and midfields present as yet unanswered issues to the Blaugrana.

Despite high levels of passing accuracy, as we've come to expect from Barca, openings were at a premium against Giorgos Donis' well-drilled outfit.

Both Dani Alves and Adriano Correia had 113 touches in the match, per WhoScored. It evidenced once again just how much width Barca employ when trying to counteract such a negative tactic.

"

Barcelona players who ran most against APOEL: Alves 11.322 metres - Samper 11.296m - Adriano 11.283m #fcblive #ucl [via @fcbarcelona_cat]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) September 17, 2014"

However, the wing-back role essentially becomes moribund without any sort of incision into the central, and more dangerous, areas. To that end, APOEL get their own tactics spot on.

Yes, there was the odd foray, but nothing close to what was required. And with no central presence, then any balls delivered from the wider areas are aimless and unnecessary. In turn it forces short, sharp balls into a congested midfield, which are easy to defend against.

That Gerard Pique's winner came from a dead-ball delivery says much.

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There can be parallels drawn from the Champions League win against Celtic when Barca only won the game in injury time thanks to Jordi Alba, despite enjoying a record 82 percent possession, per WhoScored.

Neymar and Lionel Messi didn't have the room within which to go about their work to any successful degree, thereby also curtailing most of Barca's attacking prowess.

And with so much of Barca's play in front of APOEL's defensive line, rather than in behind, Carlao in particular was able to effectively nullify the threat with relative ease.

In not being able to open up that space between the lines, recycling possession becomes the only option.

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If the game told us anything at all, it was that Barca still have a lot of work to do on the training pitch to successfully overcome a system that threatens to derail their push for glory this season.