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Barcelona vs. Arsenal: A Tactical Minefield in the Champions League
In the most glamourous of glamour ties, Barcelona's visit to Arsenal has hit the top of the trends on Google as the whole world waits in anticipation of what will be one hell of a match.
Taking in 31,700,000 search results and real-time updates every second via Twitter, this is the most talked about game in the UEFA Champions League this season.
And it'll be a game in which Barca goes into as favourites, having beaten Arsenal in the tournament last season, and of course having become undoubtedly the greatest team in world football at the moment.
It will also be a match, especially at the Emirates, in which tactics will play the most important role.
Some may say the Gunners don't have the technical ability to beat Barcelona, but what they might lack in that department they sure make up for in added motivation.
Of course, Arsenal will struggle more than La Blaugrana in terms of self-efficacy; i.e. their positive psychology and the belief they will win, as after all, fans, pundits and media alike have all effectively written off the team from North London.
However, Arsene Wenger's tactics, and whether his players are able to carry them out effectively, will be the biggest key to winning this match or getting a great performance out his men.
How Barca Will Play
As is well documented, Barcelona (and Spain) have thrived in recent seasons playing tiki-taka football, which can be summed up by short passes and a lot of movement.
It's Barca's best form of defence, keeping the ball, making the opponent chase them down, wearing them out, being patient, then pouncing.
For Barcelona, Xavi and Andres Iniesta float around the higher end of the midfield. They exchange passes with the three attackers and the two fullbacks who are given total license to join the attack, getting their teammates moving, pulling defenders out of position. They chip away at their opponent's defensive shape before an opponent gets caught out of position in the wrong place and someone's through on goal, usually Lionel Messi or David Villa.
It works brilliantly for Barca, who have the technically-proficient players.
They can make accurate passes, instantly control the ball—with the right vision and judgement to pick out the best options—and with good enough dribbling skills to keep hold of the ball until better passing options come along.
It's also a very convenient thing to do at the vast expanse which is the Nou Camp pitch, which allows Barca to pass and pass and pass again.
When (in the very unlikely situation) Barca do lose the ball, their main defensive tactics are to press opponents ASAP, track back as quickly as possible, and simply regain the ball to do tiki-taka all over again. It's surprisingly simplistic but ever so effective, especially with players who have such impeccable fitness.
And in any case, their defensive job is made so much more simpler by holding midfielder Sergio Busquets, who just stands around like a rock in front of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol (or Eric Abidal as it might be against Arsenal).
How The Gunners Will Play
As everyone knows, Arsenal play the most attractive football in the Premier League, characterised by quick passing, forward thinking, a lot of movement and a well-worked routine into the penalty area so the Gunners can pass their way into a goal.
In effect, they play a somewhat English-style version of tiki-taka, except Cesc Fabregas will be given extra responsibility as a link between midfield and attack.
Unlike with Barcelona, there will only be one main channel going forward through Captain Fab the playmaker, which has its advantages of course, as all the Gunners players will know exactly what they're doing going forward and can focus more than Barca can on what will happen once they're inside their opponents penalty area.
Arsenal's classic front three with a strong central striker and two cutting in from out wide won't be as flexible or interlink anywhere near as much as Barcelona's attacking trio. They'll no doubt maintain a fairly high line up top, with the two wingers pressing forward whenever possible in an attempt push back Barca's carefree, roaming fullbacks.
And from Fabregas backwards, there'll be little else in attacking tactics for Arsenal, apart from the roles of Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy who will most likely team up with the wingers to try and stop Barca's fullbacks getting forward at every opportunity by reminding them of their defensive duties.
Defensively, it'll be expected that Arsenal will allow Barcelona space to pass the ball up until the final third, with the roles of Alex Song and Jack Wilshere mainly to track the movements of those flying Barca fullbacks and attempt to intercept any Xavi or Iniesta passes.
Arsenal's fullbacks will also play a key role in whether the Gunners can hold the Catalan giants with their work defensively in their own final third, tracking the front three to help out the centrebacks being crucial.
How Barcelona Will Try to Stop Arsenal
As far as opponent-specific tactics will go, there most likely won't be much at all from Pep Guardiola's charges, with the Barca boss evidently having formulated a brilliant generic game plan that has only been stopped in the past by catenaccio (i.e. Inter Milan) when Barca are in full flow.
One thing Guardiola could well hit Wenger's team with is an up-tempo tiki-taka by pushing forward quicker and being slightly more impatient in their goal-scoring exploits.
This has the potential to counteract Arsenal from cramming everyone back into their final third and clogging up the defence before hitting the counterattack. Basically, if Barca play quicker, they'll open Arsenal up easier.
Of course Guardiola has to be wary of Arsenal's wingers when they hit the attack, and a man-marking mission on Theo Walcott and Andrei Arshavin (or whoever Arsenal put out against Barca) could be on the cards for Barca's fullbacks, Dani Alves and Maxwell or Eric Abidal.
Other than that, Sergio Busquets might see a lot of the ball as Guardiola attempts to bring the Arsenal players forward more, but that aside, Arsenal-specific tactics won't take up much of the pre-match brief as far Barcelona are concerned.
How Arsenal Will Try to Stop Barcelona
Barcelona-specific tactics will undoubtedly be top of the agenda for Wenger when he and the technical staff brief the players on their mission ahead.
Most likely, the centrebacks won't be told to man-mark Messi, Pedro or Villa, but zonal marking on the trio looks very probable.
In the final third, those three will probably be closed down instantly, while Messi looks set to receive some special treatment. As everyone saw at the World Cup, the most effective way to stop little Lionel is to tackle him early. Don't run and close him down, get teammates to close down his options and get the tackle in on him quickly.
Pretty much, expect Alex Song to pick up a booking for hacking down Messi.
For Arsenal the potential of counterattacking football seems likely, but Wenger will probably tell his men to play their own game, and Barcelona will respond to that, turning the psychology around and making Barca do the running.
If Arsenal have the balls to do that, especially with Barca's devouringly, devastating defensive efficiency, it can go one of two ways: they can claim a spectacular win or lose drastically if they feel any mental pressure and subsequently lose focus.
Going forward, Wenger knows he needs to get round Sergio Busquets, the defence before the defence who closes down any attack on his defenders like a vicious Siberian tiger protecting its young.
Fabregas will probably be told to link with Walcott and Arshavin to drag Busquests out of position and get ahead of him, either drawing fouls off Barca's main holding mid or getting past him and onto the centrebacks.
Overall, it will be a tough job for Wenger's men, and the Arsenal supremo needs to make sure he has a lot of tactics up his sleeve, that they're all the right tactics, and that his players know them inside out and carry them out effectively.
If he can do that, his team might just shock the world and come out better from the tactical minefield that is the Emirates pitch this Wednesday evening.
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