If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. That was applicable to Barcelona on Wednesday in the match at the Mestalla, but tonight the world witnessed yet another master-class. Starting out with a 3-4-3 formation, one could be forgiven for feeling a little anxious, especially when both Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique were on the bench.
Barcelona, which won La Liga and the Champions League last term, opened the season with a 5-0 rout of Villareal. It beat Osasuna 8-0 but drew with Real Sociedad.
Coming into the game, with the “colchoneros” having notched 8 goals in their last two fixtures and Barca presenting the same 3-4-3 system exploited by Valencia just days earlier, cules approached the match with characteristic trepidation.
Xavi Hernandez played a delightfully weighted diagonal ball over the top of Perea, and David Villa chested it down before cutting inside a defender and firing into the bottom corner. Was FC Barcelona as anxious as its fans? Well, Villa certainly was not.
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Unfazed by Wednesday’s defensive struggles, Guardiola approached the match with a similar 3-4-3 alignment. Alves returned to his natural position as right back, with Abidal mirroring him on the left flank. Mascherano became the glue to the back line as the lone center back, while Busquets shaded upfield as defensive midfielder. He was joined in the midfield by Xavi and Thiago, with Fabregas floating free just behind Barcelona’s preferred attacking trident of Messi-Villa-Pedro.
From the onset, it became clear that Atletico would not try to replicate Valencia’s formula for success. Barcelona found the spaces necessary to operate their intricate passing game, stringing together plays against a side content to sit back and hit on the counter. With none of the asphyxiating pressure displayed by Valencia coming from Atletico’s attacking players, Barcelona was able to play the ball out from the back to a settled Xavi, who picked apart the defense with virtuoso ease.
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