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No individuals are spared the responsibility of working smartly to get the ball back, utilizing a high work rate and focus. It’s a far less comfortable system, but it can pay off in the form of goalscoring chances. Most teams have a tendency to step backward and regain defensive shape after losing possession, but the Barcelona philosophy asks players to step forward and chase right away. When Barça does lose the ball, its immediate pressure aims to recover it as high up the field as possible. It doesn’t always result in a win, as Saturday showed, but it usually gives the team with more possession a higher probability of winning because it’s more likely to create scoring opportunities. The ball runs more than any player on the team, and players are also less tired when they don’t have to chase the game. In the Barcelona philosophy, the best defense is not losing the ball. The Rapid-Fire Quiz: Stars around the world on their career highlights Málaga did it well in its 1-0 win over Barça on Saturday, all 11 players in a 4-4-2 within 35 yards of goal, leaving no gaps to penetrate.
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Creative midfielders slot into the gaps between the forward three, the wingers tuck in to create an overload and the fullbacks time their runs forward at critical moments.Īn opponent’s best hope is often to play with an extremely low block defensively, concede the majority of possession and play on the counterattack. Its combinations - instinctual one-touch play in crowded spaces - is what fans have come to associate with Barça. Within the length of the area, they have a green light to take players on or find overlapping runners to penetrate to the endline. When wingers have the ball at their feet below the penalty area, they dribble into the half-spaces. Barça focuses on building through half-spaces until the final third, when efforts shift to combining through the central area on top of the penalty area or finding wide isolation. This emphasis allows players to receive in spaces between defensive lines vertically and horizontally. Inside the SuperClubs: Guardiola's tactics alter Bayern Munich's identity
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Having a wider angle of possible options for the next ball in an area less crowded than dead center of the field creates unpredictability for the defense. Barcelona’s use of half-spaces has become a crucial element in possession.
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