It was a scintillating 2-2 draw in the first leg of the round of 32 tie between Barcelona and Man United. One could have mistaken the tie for a Champions League one due to the attacking football displayed by both sides and fans can’t wait for the second leg at Old Trafford.
While credit must go to Erik Ten Haag and his boys particularly Marcus Rashford who was brilliant again, it was Xavi to who aided the Red Devils performance. How do I mean?
Barcelona went into the game with the best defence in the top 5 leagues in Europe, the Catalans have conceded just 7 goals all season. At the heart of this solidity is Ronald Araujo and Andres Christensen at centre backs while Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde/Jordi Alba at left back.
It was however surprising that Xavi decided to carry out an unnecessary experiment with his back 4 against one of Europe’s most-in-form teams.If it is not broken why fix it?
There was no need to play Araujo at right back when he has been La Liga’s best centre back and play a centre back pairing of Kounde and Alonso.
The back 4 enabled Manchester United to look very dangerous in transition and make neutrals wonder how this Barcelona side have the best defence in Europe.
Not only did Xavi also sacrificed his defensive solidity but also missed the opportunity to test the impreganabilty of Barcelona’s back 4 against one the best attacks in Europe.
Kounde and Araujo’s absence cost Barcelona a place in the Champions League round of 16 and Xavi should have made that known to the world against Man United.
If Xavi wants to succeed as the Catalan boss in Europe, he should learn to keep things simple. That is, he shouldn’t overthink. A coach shouldn’t be too focused on the opponent’s strength while ignoring hi team’s strength.
We have seen this cost Pep Guardiola in the Champions League severally as Manchester’ boss and Xavi must learn from that.
With the abolition of the away goal rule, Barcelona stand an equal chance as Manchester United going into the second leg. Xavi must not made the same mistake twice and he must field his strongest back 4 against a very fast and clinical attack next week Thursday.
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