Elite defensive structure and Gavi as a false winger: How Xavi outclassed Ancelotti to win his first trophy as Barcelona manager
This article was originally written on January 16, 2023.
Xavi has had a highly successful week as Barcelona manager. Having beaten Atletico Madrid to establish a three-point lead in La Liga, Barcelona bested Real Madrid in the Final of the Supercopa de España to win their first trophy under Xavi.
What will perhaps be most pleasing for the manager are the different ways in which those two games were won. At the Wanda Metropolitano, Barcelona controlled the match for the first 25 minutes or so, grabbing the first goal, before Atletico began to assert their dominance. In the end, the Catalan side was forced to “suffer” for large chunks of the match, and required some excellent penalty box defending to come away with the victory. Christensen, Araújo and Koundé defended as well as any Barcelona back line has in recent years, making a combined 14 clearances, including two off the line, and blocking five shots. It showed that this revamped Barça side have the ability to grind out games, even when not at their best for the full 90 minutes.
In contrast, Barcelona completely outclassed Real Madrid in their 3–1 victory, with Barcelona’s midfield four, at times, playing circles around their rivals. As he did vs. Atletico, Xavi played a 3–2–2–3 shape in possession vs. Madrid, allowing all of four of his elite midfielders (Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Pedri) to play at the same time.
However, as interesting as the on-ball shape is, it was Barça’s defensive set-up that caused Madrid the most problems, especially when the Blaugrana pressed high. The press was not particularly risky, as Barça did not go man-for-man, but rather had the winger on the far side marking zonally, typically responsible for two players. Combining a man-marking system with zonal marking is often referred to as a ‘hybrid press’.
Barça also pressed in a highly compact shape, determined not to let Real play through them. With their pressing structure, Barcelona essentially dictated which of Madrid’s players could and could not have the ball. Generally, the Catalans allowed Real’s centre-backs to have the ball, but crucially, completely cut off the supply to Madrid’s midfield. All of Real’s midfielders were constantly man marked, with Pedri hardly leaving Kroos’s side. Given that Los Blancos rely heavily on their midfield — Kroos, in particular — to progress the ball, this pressing structure proved highly effective.
The first goal of the match stems from the aforementioned pressing structure. Barcelona allow Rüdiger — not a great passer — to have the ball, but all midfielders are marked tightly. Rüdiger’s best move is to go back to the keeper, who could then recycle it to the other side, where Madrid have a +1 man advantage (given the hybrid pressing scheme). Instead, the German international sloppily plays it into Camavinga, and Busquets pounces, leading to a turnover and the goal by Gavi.
There are a few other things to note about Barcelona’s press. Both Dembélé and Lewandowski’s pressing angles are spot on. Dembélé cuts off the pass to Mendy, while Lewandowski is prepared to cut off the angle to Militão. Meanwhile, Gavi is in position between the right centre-back and right back, positioned perfectly so that a potential switch to Carvajal — the right back — would be cut off.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this pressing scheme is that it is capable of forcing turnovers high up the pitch, without leaving Barcelona vulnerable at the back, should Madrid ever play through the press, as Barça are always keeping a +1 man advantage at the back. This is particularly important when playing against a frontline which consists of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. — two players who are exceptional on the counter, and who possess an excellent understanding between each other. The risk to reward ratio of the press is spot on; it’s an elite pressing structure drawn up by Xavi, and brilliantly executed by the players.
The third goal also stems from a pressing situation, and, once again, Gavi’s zonal marking is key. Again, the 18-year old is essentially tasked with covering two players at once. In this case, he’s responsible for Militão and Rodrygo.
Gavi positions himself perfectly to cut off the switch to Militão, reads the pass from Ceballos superbly and intercepts, leading to Barça’s third goal.
Gavi is able to beat Militão to the ball, forcing the turnover, before creating Barça’s third goal.
Xavi also made one other crucial tactical change from the match vs. Atletico, against Real, namely switching the positions of Pedri and Gavi. At the Wanda Metropolitano, Pedri played as the false winger on the left, with Gavi operating in the right half-space. Against Real, the two swapped positions, with Pedri playing as the right interior, and Gavi on the left.
Most probably, the reasoning for the change was a defensive one. The player operating as the false winger on the left has a much more important defensive role, as he must always be aware of the positioning of the opponent’s right back, and track him up and down the line. This requires a certain defensive awareness and work rate, that not all attacking midfielders possess.
Against Atletico, Pedri was tasked with tracking Nahuel Molina, the right back in Diego Simeone’s system. However, due to his lack of defensive nous and familiarity with the role, Pedri regularly left Molina unmarked.
Here, Barcelona’s left back Balde has tucked in narrow, to prevent Barça’s back line from being left exposed centrally. Pedri should cover Molina, who is at the bottom of the screen. However, he is out of position and his body is angled the wrong way, leaving him unable to cut off the pass to Molina.
Molina is able to receive in acres of space, forcing Balde to close him down. This leaves Barcelona’s back line in danger, as they are temporarily 3v3 for any potential cross to the box.
Only a few minutes later, Pedri once again loses his man. Again, Balde has tucked in to prevent the back line from being overloaded. Molina is making a run on the outside, which Pedri is forced to track. However, he anticipates the danger slightly too late and is thus late in tracking Molina, particularly given that Molina is much quicker than Pedri. Molina angles his run to the inside and points to Felix where he wants it.
Luckily for Pedri and Barcelona, Felix decides to take the shot on, missing the target, and leaving Molina frustrated.
Below is one final example of Pedri losing his man, again only moments later. Pedri is positioned far too narrow, completely unaware of the space that Molina finds himself in at the bottom of the picture. The Argentinian is again calling for the ball to be played into him.
Even as the play develops, Pedri remains unaware of Molina’s position. Molina is still resolutely calling for the ball as he makes a run upfield.
The ball is eventually played into him, with Pedri getting there far too late, allowing Molina to fizz a low cross into the box, but Antoine Griezmann cannot convert.
Against Real Madrid, with Gavi defending in Pedri’s role, these defensive problems did not arise, with the 18-year old astutely covering Carvajal’s runs forward.
Here, Kroos is about to receive a pass from Mendy and Carvajal has ventured forward on the far side. Gavi has a quick look over his left shoulder, spotting the position of Madrid’s right back.
Soon thereafter, Kroos plays the long diagonal over Gavi’s head into Carvajal, but Gavi has already anticipated the move and tracks the run well.
Carvajal receives the ball, but Gavi recovers excellently, and wins the ball.
It should be noted that in addition to Gavi possessing a greater defensive awareness than Pedri, he is also more dynamic and explosive, and thus better able to defend large spaces. In the example above, Gavi’s recovery speed allows him to be narrowly tucked into Barça’s compact 4–4–2 shape, but still recover quickly enough to defend the wide area. The slower Pedri would have likely had a more difficult time catching up to Carvajal in this instance.
Overall, Xavi switching the positions of his two young playmakers was a key reason as to why Barcelona was able to remain in greater control vs. Real Madrid, compared to Atletico. Not only did Gavi excel defensively, but he also contributed to all three goals, scoring and assisting one, en route to Barça’s first trophy win under Xavi. Barcelona will be hoping that this was only the first of multiple trophies this season, as they sit first in La Liga, while still competing in the Europa League and the Copa del Rey.
