The Asturian coach made more tactical tweaks on
Sunday and the Catalans complicated things far too much before Sergio
Busquets saved the day in added time
In a Barcelona starting XI which included Lionel mesi , Neymar and Luis
Suarez, Sergio Busquets was the unlikely hero in Sunday's clash,
smashing home the winning goal to give Luis Enrique's side a hard-fought
1-0 win in Valencia. However, as the midfielder came off the pitch, the
television interviewer asked what many had been thinking as his team
toiled at Mestalla: "What were you trying to do out there?"It was a good question. Barca, back on form with resounding wins over Sevilla and APOEL in its last two fixtures, was well off the pace again in this match. "We will struggle again," Luis Enrique predicted last week. But the Barca boss surely couldn't have imagined his team would struggle so soon.
Found out for his tactics in the Clasico clash at the Santiago Bernabeu last month, Luis Enrique again got it wrong in a big game. Messi, at his brilliant best with back-to-back hat tricks against in his last two games, was out on the wing early on with Suarez in the center, while a midfield double pivot of Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets saw the Catalans lose much of their habitual creativity against a solid Valencia side.
Another day, another experiment. Busquets played further forward, with Xavi out on the left. "Busquets is playing in Xavi's role and Xavi is playing the Busquets role," commented former Liverpool striker Michael Robinson on Canal Plus. "It's strange to see." Mestalla, one of La Liga's toughest grounds, was surely not the place for such tactical tinkering.
After a poor first half, Barca was even worse early in the second period. Suarez squandered two glorious chances to put his team in front, doing everything right until he was required to do exactly what he was bought to Barcelona for: score goals.
Suarez finally put the ball in the net five minutes later and was incorrectly ruled offside after the midfield balance returned with Rakitic on the pitch.
In the end, Busquets' late winner following a spell of late pressure saved Barca's blushes. But some strange tactical decisions by Luis Enrique, a midfield missing creativity and a forward line lacking movement and at times completely static, will have frustrated fans who are already growing impatient with their team's poor performances in recent weeks.
"We played a good match," Luis Enrique said afterwards. "We were imprecise at times, but we had control of the play. We had faith right until the end and we were worthy winners."
Perhaps. But just like in the defeats to Real Madrid and Celta Vigo, and the dire display at Almeria which his side eventually won 2-1 earlier in November, Luis Enrique played into the opposition's hands with unnecessary tactical tweaks. This time there was a happy ending. Next time, there might not be.
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