Right, but their press came in the format of a 3-5-2. So they were outnumbering Barca's midfield in possession and while we were trying to get the ball out of the back. With respect to not clearing the ball from the back, it's been the same concept for the last 10 years (or even more). It has been the norm since Pep took over (and maybe even with Rijkaard). Annoying and nerving at times yes, but it's nothing new.
This is the one aspect of Arthur's game that will improve over time. I recall two specific circumstances where he was surrounded and lost the ball when he could have made the "simple" pass but instead chose to keep it and try to pass through the lines. With experience, he'll get better at choosing his spots. But still, gotta love his audacity!
Great highlights for first half, shows many more missed chances than most highlights do, and also does that whole 360/3D thing; but come half time they switched sources (which probably helps keep these up and not DMCA'd) but 2nd half is mostly just the goals or posts hit, no 3D, still a nice recap in Spanish:
It gives us culés heart attacks to see them try to play dangerous balls out of the back under high pressure, but I've come to understand why Barça is so dogmatic about this: Sure, you might lose possession in a dangerous position, but if you play precise, quick passes to keep the ball instead of booting it, the risk-to-reward can pay high dividends because you'll find tons of space to play behind the opponent and get good scoring opportunities. I think the prime example of this was the last-minute winner Messi scored at the Bernabeu in April 2017 (Lucho's last Clásico), where we were deep in our own corner with LPB far up forward trying to steal it, but some short passes and out sprung S. Roberto on a quick sprint into midfield. Suddenly it was a 6 v. 3 break for us that Messi finished perfectly. Yes, the "safe" thing to do was to belt it forward hoping Suárez would win the aerial battle, but that's just not how we do things.
@inswinger @celito I realize that is how Barca has played for a decade now. I mean blasting the ball forward goes against the entire mantra of possession football whose goal is to keep possession. Still, I feel there are some situations where clearing the ball is the best move and the potential reward does not outweigh the risk. The best Barca teams were masters of Tiki Taka but their greatness was also in their flexibility as well. I think it's good if we cede possession from time to time and play long passes. We've had success with that a few times this season. Suarez is great at winning aerial battles and running off with it.
This one only shows the last 6 or 7 passes, but I'm sure no one objects to seeing it again. Edit: here it is in full! Found it on Pornhub. https://streamable.com/b89o4
That's why you need to be 100% at all times. Getting complacent is worst enemy and Barca at times have trouble with that. I could easily have seen Madrid draw/win if Modric would have scored that shot which hit the post (Barca would have been shocked and lost more composure). The margins are narrow, but guess the footballing gods give and take. Still LPB defence was all over the place and the 2-1 only changed when Dembele came on and made sure it ended 5-1 [emoji16] A shout out to VAR! Looking at it so far in the season it has benefited Barca several times and punished LPB, showing that LPB usually get away with lots of dubious calls.
Not only Modric post , but Benzima after him with a free header right in front of goal and missed it , in a couple of minutes it could've been turned into 3-2 to them and confused the hell out of our clueless coach , there is no way in hell we are going to win the CL with him , 0% chance , he is too cowardly to do anything positive and always passive with his style , lucky for us LPB were utter garbage at this point and their coach is even shittier than ours + their players are just too old and need to be replaced
The start of the second half was nerve-wracking, no doubt. But let's not forget that Barca could well have been up 3 or 4 goals at halftime. So both teams were a bit unlucky in front of goal... until the final 15 minutes.
sorry but we could have finished the game before the break. luck is a part of the game so you have to accept it. give valverde credits
anyway alba under valverde is the best alba version, imo. his defensive ablities are improved, amazing overlapping run
Several times ? I think it has been calls 2 for and 1 against so far. Lenglet got a red card because of VAR. And I think Madrid has 1 call go their way and one against.
...and @LuisSuarez9 did just that 😎😏 pic.twitter.com/z3bJ1t9dqk— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 29, 2018
📊 | How Coutinho‘s ‘tiki taka’ goal was cooked: ⏱ 94 seconds👥 10 players⚽ 30 touches🔝 A Barça DNA goal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GPPFivPQCS— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) October 29, 2018
Yeah, I know just in the last 2 games they had at least 2 calls overturned due to VAR. They scored an offside goal a week ago against Levante, which VAR wiped-out. And of course they committed a penalty against Barca which VAR identified after the ref again missed it. I think there may have been another one against Levante that I'm forgetting. Just read the match thread in the LPB forum. Lol at the posters who wanted a red card on Suarez.
I guess I missed the ones last week. I saw the one vs Levante. It was the Varane hand ball that was initially called outside and then turned into a PK. But to be honest, that wasn't dubious. It was close and a tough call. A couple of posters bitch about every call in every game we play. Pretty funny how triggered they get. It was a bad stomp but accidental. Ramos would have gotten a yellow for that as well no matter what they want to believe in.