Barcelona – Bayern Munich: Revitalized Raphinha Runs Amok (4-1)
If UEFA is eager to extol the virtues of the new Champions League format, then it should look no further than this fight. A fixture destined for fireworks delivered. Two teams that are keen to go blow for blow battled in Barcelona to produce an explosive encounter with a hectic rhythm.
Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.
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Are Barcelona back? The chronic crippling of debt in Catalonia has compelled the club to return to their first principles. La Masia has manufactured the stars of tomorrow and cradles the light that could lead the institution out of its current crisis. At the helm is a man who embraces risk and reward: Hansi Flick’s full throttle offense has whipped up a storm in LaLiga to soar to the top of the table. Now he prepared to face the team that provided the platform for his projection into the public consciousness.
Bayern Munich still pine for their latest pinnacle under Flick. Decline dramatically culminated in the concession of the Bundesliga crown— and a trophyless season for the first time in 12 years. Thomas Tuchel left the dugout, and the board backed Vincent Kompany to take charge of the club. His men have doused opponents in brutal domination. But when does bravery become stupidity? Thanks to two draws in their last three league outings and a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, the critics continue to circle.
Kompany came to Catalonia after a 4-0 rout of VfB Stuttgart. He started ten of the eleven players from the weekend. Raphaël Guerreiro stayed on the right of the back four while Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano sat in central defense. Aleksandar Pavlović had suffered a collarbone injury, so João Palhinha filled in for him next to Joshua Kimmich in the middle of the park. Jamal Musiala had also been missing with a hip issue. Once more, Thomas Müller played in the hole behind Harry Kane.
The hosts also wished to recoup the lost points from the first matchday away at Monaco. Flick only altered one name from his selection. Raphinha rotated to the left wing and Ansu Fati made way for Fermín López as one of the three offensive figures behind Robert Lewandowski, who would also be battling his old employers. Academy graduates littered the lineup. Iñaki Peña stood in for Marc-André ter Stegen, Marc Casadó joined Pedri in the pivot, and Pau Cubarsí remains a mainstay at the back.
The hubris of the high line
Tuchel tried to take a more stable approach during his stewardship, but Kompany has chosen to gamble much more with his plans. His men pressed with a strong orientation to their direct opponents and little cover in the last line. Within less than sixty seconds, they suffered shortfalls in the strategy.
Lewandowski dropped deep to hold up the ball, dragging out Min-jae, while Raphinha and Fermín switched positions. Fermín freed himself from Kimmich’s clutches and threaded a through ball around his marker for the captain to chase. Raphinha rounded Manuel Neuer and hit the back of an empty net.
13th minute: offensive sequence from Bayern Munich. Gnabry turned inside before feeding a pass to Kimmich. The central midfielder had sprinted to the ball near side to demand the ball and was under no immediate pressure. However, Fermín, who had tracked Min-jae, moved out of the channel while the rest of the defensive line advanced to raise the height of the offside line. Müller and Olise respond with runs around Balde on the right wing and Cubarsí has to cover the immediate danger of Gnabry.
But Barcelona are also not a faultless defensive unit. They did not take the final step with the same height of pressing as their guests. Nevertheless, the last line refused to drop off, sticking extremely tightly to Pedri and Casadó. If a ball holding Bayern player was not under direct pressure, they could target the aggressive offside trap with long balls. Moreover, the back four stayed tight. Straightaway, Kompany’s men saw how space was available to hit their teammates directly with diagonal switches.
The response was not long in the waiting. Without direct pressure on Min-jae, the defender flung out an aerial switch to Olise on the touchline. He watched the underlap from Guerreiro and then executed a second switch to the other flank under the attention of three blue and red shirts. Koundé could not catch up with his opposite man on the far side and Gnabry whipped a delivery into the penalty area. Kane had stolen a march on the defense from an offside position, angling on the volley to equalize.
The Bavarian breakdown
Here, Bayern’s momentum began to stall. Barcelona relied less on their medium block with the offside trap, stepping higher and pressing with a more man-oriented midfielder in the center of the field. That shift complemented their growing control of the ball. Longer balls to Lewandowski could still lure out defenders as other options picked their moment to go in behind. However, more presence from Pedri and Lamine Yamal in these deep buildup phases could buy a few extra seconds that the team wanted.
25th minute: buildup sequence from Barcelona. Cubarsí cut the lines with a vertical pass into the feet of Yamal. Lewandowski dummied a reception, dragging Upamecano out of the defense, and Alphonso Davies followed him into the middle of the pitch. As Lewandowski wraps around the winger, he uses the additional space and time to turn out from the pressure in his back and releases the ball to Pedri. Raphinha then runs diagonally across the line, entering into a successful running duel with Kimmich.
But this phase could not prepare Bayern for the self-inflicted damage that would follow. In the 36th minute, options congregated close to Cubarsí. Raphinha found himself between the lines ahead of the central defender. Min-jae moved out to mark Fermín and then kept edging forward with a view to the captain. Palhinha, whose eyes were on Casadó, was too slow to help. Fermín forced his arms into the back of Min-jae, who could not climb to clear Yamal’s daggered through ball in the air. Neuer rushed out recklessly, Fermín lifted the ball over the goalkeeper, and Lewandowski restored the advantage.
Ruthless Raphinha picks off his prey
The precision passing on the switch eroded in Bayern’s offensive plan. On the other hand, their hosts had already demonstrated how they could continue to pick apart the Bavarians. Raphinha could outrun Kimmich and Guerreiro in open room. His teammates would wait for the right moments to hit him on the breakaway in positions far from the ball where he could gain an additional dynamic on his marker.
The plan played out to perfection on the stroke of half time. Casadó clipped a diagonal ball to the left winger, who wandered in a dribbling duel with Guerreiro. The fullback backed away from the Brazilian, who banked his brace with a weak footed finish into the far post. Pedri and Yamal then unleashed his speed in transition once more in the 56th minute. He brought the ball under control on his chest and buried a strike beyond Neuer. His hat-trick had consigned Bayern to a big defeat.
Well deserved, Raphinha! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/PW7XwQWKEl
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 24, 2024
At the hour mark, Kompany called for drastic measures with four substitutes. Leon Goretzka stepped in for Palhinha in midfield. Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané, and Kingsley Coman swapped in for Müller, Olise, and Gnabry. But now the Catalans could play their favorite game. Between phases of ‘keep-ball’ and a solid block, the three goal lead remained till the final whistle. Frenkie de Jong and Dani Olmo also appeared off the bench in a squad that is regaining numbers. Flick could not have felt any better.
Takeaways
Bayern Munich will expect to rack up goals against more mediocre outfits in the Bundesliga. So, the judgment of their standard will always depend on their displays in the crunch contests. The Bavarians indeed rattled their hosts and could have completely tipped the scoreline. But in the end, Barcelona brutally punished mistakes. Kompany cannot be blind to the frailties of his style, and he will require the courage of his convictions to continue on this path as a margin for error shrivels in the tournament.
Barcelona built up ahead of steam in an unusual way. Few adversaries will keep anything close to 61% of the ball possession in their duels over the rest of the campaign. Nonetheless, the three points were still attributable to familiar traits: the clinical and dynamic work of the forwards. It seems that Flick has found the right methods to maximize the talent from this fresh crop of players— none more so than Raphinha. A victory in Madrid in the next edition of El Clásico would end the perfect week.
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