Barcelona Need to Rediscover Attacking Urgency to Retain Champions League Trophy
Barcelona won 2-1 at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night to give themselves a first-leg lead over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, but it was a tough night for the Catalan club who for a long time didn't look capable of the guile and creativity needed to break down Europe's best defence.
Luis Suarez eventually netted twice in 10 minutes from close range to turn the tie on its head and make Fernando Torres' red card, after he had scored Atleti's opener, extremely costly.
Up until then, however, the Barcelona attack as a whole had looked short of movement and ideas, as it has in a few games of late.
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For Luis Enrique's team to become the first side to win back-to-back Champions Leagues, they need to rediscover the tempo and movement in their game that makes them such a difficult opponent to keep out; without it, there's every chance they'll fall before the final hurdle.
A game of 2 halves
The first half at the Camp Nou was entertaining but consistent in how it was played out: Barcelona possession, a cross into the box and Atleti defenders clearing it, before a few counter-attacks of their own. One paid off in style as Koke freed Torres into the box to finish, an attack of precision and incision that Barca, with 87 goals to their name in La Liga this season, simply couldn't conjure up.
Atletico's midfield worked hard to protect the space in front of the back four, altering from a quartet to a quintet with regularity depending on the area Barca were playing in, with the work rate and responsibility shared around between Koke, Gabi and Saul in particular.
In fairness to Atleti, at that point it looked as if they would cope just fine with Barcelona's methodical dominance—but Torres' red card had an inevitable, if not immediate, effect on them as they tired and had one less outlet to use.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, it was apparent that Barcelona were creating more chances; it wasn't the tiredness factor at that point but instead the home side raising the speed of their own game. Neymar in particular was much more involved, the full-backs were higher stationed and passes were zipped into feet first time rather than looking for more patient, probing build-up play.
That's what yielded the goals in the end: one-touch, instinctive combinations and alert finishing from Suarez.
Top-end talent
Against many sides, in Europe and domestically, Barcelona's talent on the ball and relentlessness in possession would be enough to eventually grind teams down.
To win the Champions League, though, the very, very best sides have to be vanquished—and the top tier of sides around Europe are extremely adept at defending. Forget the likes of Arsenal, vanquished 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round and who have conceded 30 this term domestically. That isn't remotely close to the level Barca face now, in the last eight and beyond.
Atletico this season have only conceded 15 in La Liga. Bayern Munich have allowed just 13 in the Bundesliga, Paris Saint-Germain only 18 in Ligue 1 and Benfica 19 in the Liga NOS.
Of course, some of those leagues are not blessed with a depth of talent throughout, but the consistency in defence is there to be seen nonetheless. These are not good sides but excellent ones, in both halves of the pitch.
The way to get around these teams is to find a rare weak point, often which is exploited only with speed of play as well as a clinical player or two up front. From Barcelona's point of view, of course, they happen to have three of those.
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Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar: 37, 45 and 27 goals respectively this season, but all three were below par in El Clasico and again in the first half against Atletico. After an international break, involving long-haul flights and World Cup qualifiers, it's not hugely surprising, but then this is when it counts for the most at club level.
Trophies are won and lost in April and May, and Barcelona need those three firing, but they have shown, both in the 90 minutes against Atletico and in many games beforehand, that they react best and play closest to their peak when the build-up and service from behind them is shorter, faster, more reliant on reflexes and control than waiting for a mistake.
They create space and exploit it, not wait for it to be left by defenders.
Barcelona are comfortably good enough to retain their trophy, and as yet, no team has proven good enough to live with them over the long haul this season. Atletico Madrid are the biggest proof of that: closest to Barca in La Liga but having lost to them by a 2-1 scoreline on three occasions during 2015-16.
Fast play in the final third and goals will flow for Barcelona, and against their true rivals, the best teams on the continent, that's what will bring them continued silverware.
