FC Barcelona vs Levante - 5 Key Takeaways

Finally, some positivity and football to applaud and enjoy. Barcelona played exciting football and the prodigal son Ansu Fati marked his comeback with a superb goal. There were goals, brilliant one-twos, positional tweaks, fluid passes and much more. It couldn’t have gone much better for Barcelona tonight. Yes, its only Levante, but as off late we have struggled against these teams as well. We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves because of one win, but there is a lot to analyze and get excited about from this match.

Fluid Positioning

Throughout his reign as Barcelona manager, Koeman has rightly been criticized for his tactics. Today though, was a completely different show. Everything, right from the starting line-up to the in-game tactics were perfect. Barcelona were extremely fluid in their play and the interchanging of positions during the game was seamless. On paper, it was a normal 4-3-3, but on the pitch, it varied from the 4-2-3-1 to the 3-4-3. Busquets dropped back to form a “Back 3”, Depay and Coutinho rather than playing as wingers, occupied the half spaces on either side of Luuk De Jong, Nico and Gavi formed the midfield 2 and Dest and Mingueza were deployed on the flanks. The combination of Depay and Dest was really clicking on the left flank with Depay dropping deep facilitating Dest making inroads up the left flank. Gavi and Coutinho’s constant interchanging was also key in Barcelona’s build-up. Coutinho being allowed to drop in to dictate play allowed him to express himself and had a good game despite being brought off early for Riqui Puig. Gavi was pushing into the right half space and also occupying the right flank. Mingueza’s role was crucial as well. While building up, he formed part of a “Back 3” and received the ball to progress it into the midfield, he was occasionally dropping into midfield as well to create numerical advantages and facilitated Gavi up the right flank as well. Besides Mingueza’s versatility and fluidity which allowed the likes of Gavi and Coutinho to excel, he was brilliant throughout the game, winning 3 (of 4) ground duels, laying 3 key passes, completing 3 tackles and 2 long balls as well. The positional fluidity which Barcelona played with was certainly the biggest positive from the match.

Shining Youngsters – The Future and the Present

Barcelona have a plethora of young talent and there’s no denying it. We have always given ourselves hope for the future seeing these youngsters, but today they proved that they can contribute in the immediate future i.e., the present as well. Gavi, Nico, Mingueza, Garcia, Dest, Demir, Puig, Araujo and of course Ansu Fati all played and impressed as well. Gavi and Nico were dominating proceedings and looked at home. Nico played deeper just ahead of Busquets, while Gavi as afore mentioned was occupying the right flank as well as the right half space. Gavi could have bagged himself a goal and an assist as well if not for Aitor Fernandez’s heroics in goal. Nico was composed in midfield and his quick turns and ability to ease past pressure was a joy to watch. Garcia was also good in this game. He didn’t have to defend much but did so when required, but these are the games where Garcia can excel. Barcelona dominated possession (70%) and that’s when Garcia’s on the ball abilities come into play. Of course, there’s a lot for him to improve on, but in games like these he can certainly be a useful asset. Dest was of course brilliant and maybe even man of the match but more on him later. Mingueza as mentioned before was crucial this game for the overall functioning of the team. Demir showed positive signs as he came on as well. Puig getting minutes was a huge positive and he was just getting into the mix of things and displayed his usual proactiveness and energy. Ansu Fati, just wait for it.

Men of the Match - Memphis Depay and Dest

Everyone on the pitch played well and the overall team performance was brilliant. But two players who stood out for me above the rest were Memphis Depay and Dest. Their combination play was exceptional, Dest dominating the left flank allowed Memphis to occupy a central role and drop deep to receive the ball. Individually as well, they were a constant threat and the main source of danger. Dest’s driving runs and dribbles caused Levante all sorts of problems. Unlike other matches, where he constantly loses the ball, Dest was more efficient today even in such an advanced role. The numbers back up his performance as well. He completely 5 dribbles, 3 key passes, 4 tackles, 92% of his passes and 2/2 long balls. Memphis Depay was outstanding as well, he won the penalty, took the responsibility of it and scored as well to put Barcelona ahead early in the game. Memphis’s movement was on point, his runs were being found by Gavi and Mingueza and his ability to drop deep was freeing up Dest on the left flank. He completed 6 dribbles, 3 key passes and had 5 shots on target. Memphis right now is the talisman of the team and when he is in the mood, Barcelona will find goals. 

Ansu Fati - The Fairytale Return

We have waited for Ansu Fati for 322 days and he is back with a bang! The atmosphere was set, the crowd were cheering on as Ansu was warming up and when he came on, you could feel the excitement. Ansu’s return in itself was enough for us, but really Ansu wanted more. As he came on, he was raring to go and seemed really confident. He picked up the ball, tried to dribble past a couple of defenders and almost won a penalty. Ansu was going to waste no time, he wanted to get right back into the thick of things. And well, the goal he was looking for did come as Memphis tried to send Ansu through just for the pass to find Ansu a little behind. Ansu picked up the ball and could have set up Riqui Puig but instead went on his own and he knew that he was getting that goal. And he did score an absolute peach of a goal from outside the box. The reaction from Ansu’s family was heart warming and it was lovely to see Ansu go and thank the club doctor as well after scoring the goal. Dest and Memphis might have been the best players on the pitch, but in our hearts, Ansu Fati can be the only MOTM. 

Positives Galore

There are so many positives to get excited upon that I can’t restrict it to five points, so it’s best just to elaborate on the best ones and discuss the others all in a go. Apart from the four key takeaways, there was a lot more going on in this game. The most interesting one was on the sideline, where Koeman’s assistant manager Alfred Schreuder was present. Schreuder was screaming on the touchline, beckoning his players to push forward and in doing so was keeping the intensity in the play alive. I’m not saying that today’s game’s credit needs to go to Schreuder, it does not. It was certainly Koeman making decisions right from the starting lineup to the substitutions and he deserves credit for that. But Schreuder on the touchline was really helping. Under Setien, it was his assistant manager who was shouting instructions to the players rather than Setien himself. There is a possibility that Koeman could adopt a similar structure and allow Schreuder to instruct the players in game, while he takes care of the game management. It would be interesting to see if that works. Barcelona’s intensity was certainly high today and we were constantly looking to hunt the ball down. The team was pressing as a unit and it was working really well. The average positions also show that Garcia and Pique were maintaining a high defensive line just behind the half way line. Huge credit goes to Koeman for his tactics, management and philosophy for this game. This was, of course, only Levante and there will be much bigger tests arriving very soon. My only hope going forward is that Koeman continues to stick to this philosophy and further build on it. 

There you have it, my five key takeaways from the FC Barcelona vs Levante match-up. Comment down below what was your main takeaway from the game, share the content and why not check out the Squad Tier List, where I ranked every single Barcelona player. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you back soon and remember it’s more than a blog.