How should Manchester City play against FC Barcelona? It is a question Manuel Pellegrini will have been pondering ever since the draw was made back in December. Including his experiences last season where the Citizens lost 4-1 on aggregate, I believe there are two main ways he should be looking to approach this tie.
Firstly, he needs to look to the past. This 2014-15 edition of Barcelona is not a vintage one. Some of the components from previous years are there, but this is a Barcelona in definite transition. They are contending with massive upheaval off the pitch in light of the transfer ban imposed by Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being found guilty of the illegal signing of youth players and also the continued issues within the club board leading into the presidential elections this summer. Luis Enrique’s first season back at Barcelona hasn’t been a roaring success with many in the Catalan press questioning his methods, treatment of players and an initial failure to unite the trio of Neymar, Suarez and Messi.
Under Pep Guardiola, Barca were the proponents of a delightful passing game. With skills mostly honed and perfected on the youth training grounds of La Masia, it was beautifully crafted and perfected by Pep and his galaxy of stars. This at times left them almost unplayable, much to Sir Alex Ferguson’s cost in Rome in 2009 and Wembley 2011.
The Chelsea way over the two legs in 2012 was to accept that Barca would have more possession. The other thing Chelsea needed to do was play what in Basketball is known as a ‘Half Court Press’. In football terms, this meant that the defensive lines needed to be tight together, only pressure your opponent once they enter your half, let them play around you, not through you.
The Chelsea defence did not once play outside the width of their penalty area. Knowing that Barcelona were not going to sling high balls into the box from out wide meant that this approach was justified. The Chelsea team were more than happy for the Catalans to play it from side to side and the channels safe in the knowledge this wouldn’t hurt them.
The only time Barcelona looked like scoring was when Messi, Iniesta and Xavi managed to find chinks of light in the Blues armour and sniff out chances. As we know, the plan of Chelsea’s worked and they won 3-2 on aggregate. Barcelona, it is widely acknowledged, outplayed Chelsea for 120 minutes, and even after Fernando Torres’ breakaway goal in injury time, the Camp Nou stood to applaud the efforts of their team. However, for all their possession and inter-play, they still lost.
Secondly, in the period immediately post Pep, there was a succession. Tito Vilanova – Guardiola’s number two during his trophy laden reign – had been appointed the new number one. This meant that although there were slight subtle tweaks in style, the tradition established during the Guardiola era was continued. Tika-taka was alive and well. This also meant that the tactical blue print laid down by Chelsea and a few others was still there to be utilised.
In the semi-final the following season Jupp Heynckes’ newly crowned Bundesliga champions used an alternative tactic to that of Chelsea the year before. They attacked them. Barcelona’s defence hadn’t come under such pressure for a long time. In the absence of their captain Carles Puyol the Barcelona defence looked shaky and brittle. An unfit Messi was toothless up front and the Germans ran riot. A 4-0 home victory in Munich was followed by a 3-0 rout in Barcelona to record the best ever semi-final aggregate win in Champions League history.
The Germans were brave in possession, organised in defence and attacked with pace, power and precision. In the similar way to Chelsea the year before, the Germans were content to let Barca play in their own half. They sat back and waited for their chance to break. When they did, they broke devastatingly well, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller the stars of the show.
Barcelona this season are less tika-taka and do mix their styles. Rather than passing it through the middle and from side to side, the midfielders and full backs are encouraged to condense the play before hitting a raking diagonal pass into space where the opposite full back or wingers are ready to exploit the space. More recently they have reverted to building up more methodically, playing Lionel Messi slightly wider. This reversion to the old style had seen Barca hit some good form prior to the weekends 0-1 loss to Malaga at the Camp Nou.
For Manuel Pellegrini this move back to a shorter passing style must be perversely encouraging. Although Barcelona look a better team and are playing much better football since the Christmas break, this actually gives Man City a better chance. They can look at the success teams have had playing against Barca in two legged knock out ties and can use the historical evidence to their advantage. He must learn this time that playing with a front two in Europe’s Premier Club Competition just won’t cut it. He needs three central midfielders and to have willing runners out wide. The return of the injured James Milner is a huge boost to him and the City faithful, who must be looking forward to facing off against FCB for the second season running.
I know I, as a lover of football, am really looking forward to this game and to the tie overall. Manuel Pellegrini however must look back as well as forward if City are to progress in this competition.
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