After two defeats Barça are 4–0 up at half-time: Fermín scores one and makes two, Raphinha and Yamal score twice each, and a back four with De Jong at centre-back and a debutant at right-back is barely tested.
The numbers
| FC Barcelona | Deportivo Alavés | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 77% | 23% |
| Shots | 13 | 7 |
| xG | 3.26 | 0.76 |
| Touches in opp. box | 32 | 12 |
Result the chances deserved: FC Barcelona 85% / 10% / Deportivo Alavés 5% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
FC Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García, Fariñas, Cubarsí, De Jong, Cancelo, Rodri, Pedri, Yamal, Fermín, Adeyemi, Raphinha.
Deportivo Alavés (4-1-4-1): Sivera, Jonny Otto, Tenaglia, Koski, Youssef Enríquez, Guevara, Ángel Pérez, Protesoni, Denis Suárez, Rebbach, Boyé.
Alavés subs: Toni Martínez (46', Protesoni), Pablo Ibáñez & Aitor Mañas (55', Denis Suárez & Rebbach), Hugo Novoa & Mariano Díaz (74', Ángel Pérez & Boyé). LaLiga's match centre, Fox Sports and LiveScore have Toni Martínez on at half-time; FotMob has 55'.
Booked (FotMob, LaLiga): Protesoni (27'), Pedri (40'), Ángel Pérez (45+3'), Cancelo (57'), Pablo Ibáñez (60'). No red cards. LiveScore and Fox Sports name the Alavés midfielder who started and was booked at 27' as Carlos Benavídez; LaLiga's match centre and FotMob have Protesoni.
Barça were without Koundé, Espart, Eric García and Christensen, plus Olmo and Bardghji (club report, ESPN). De Jong played left centre-back beside Cubarsí, and Brian Fariñas, 20, made his first-team debut at right-back (club report, ESPN). Gavi was left out as a precaution over yellow cards and Bernal took his place on the bench (Yahoo Sports). Yamal's 64th-minute goal was first flagged offside and given after a VAR check (club report). Line-ups, positions, goal minutes, assists, cards, xG, possession, shots and box touches: FotMob, checked against the club report and the LiveScore timeline. The xG is FotMob's final figure, 3.26–0.76; LiveScore's ratings piece, written after the final whistle, quotes 3.19 for Barça. Attendance 53,523 (club report, FotMob).
Key moments, move by move
- Barça keep the ball for 15 passes, with nine different players touching it (club report).
- Pedri plays an outside-of-the-boot pass in behind Alavés's right-back, and Fermín runs onto it down the left.
- Fermín squares it across the six-yard area and Raphinha sweeps it in.
- Yamal, on the right, plays a soft ball in behind the Alavés back line.
- Fermín runs onto it close to the byline, with almost no angle.
- He hammers it across Sivera into the far corner.
- Fermín wins the ball back in midfield.
- He plays it straight forward over the Alavés back line, and Raphinha is clear.
- Raphinha runs into the box and shoots low into the left side of the goal.
- Cancelo drifts inside from left-back into midfield to receive.
- He finds Yamal on the right edge of the penalty area.
- Yamal hits it low with his left foot, past Sivera, with the last kick of the first half.
- Gabriel Jesus, on for two minutes, plays the ball through the middle.
- Yamal times his run past the last defender; the flag goes up.
- He dinks it over the onrushing Sivera, who gets a hand to it, and VAR confirms he was onside.
- Rodri plays a weighted through ball from midfield.
- Gordon, on for Yamal, races in behind the Alavés defence.
- He lifts it over Sivera.
- Rodri plays a loose pass back towards his own defence.
- Substitute Mariano Díaz gets to it first and goes past Gerard Martín.
- He shoots from around the edge of the box into the bottom-left corner: Alavés's consolation.
A makeshift back four, and Barça kept the ball away from it
- Two emergency defenders. Koundé, Espart, Eric García and Christensen were all injured. Flick moved De Jong to left centre-back beside Cubarsí and gave Brian Fariñas, a midfielder from the academy, his debut at right-back (club report, ESPN). Flick: "I asked Frenkie if he could play centre-back and he said yes" (Yahoo Sports).
- 77% of the ball. Alavés lined up 4-5-1 and sat deep. Barça had 77% possession, 32 touches in Alavés's box to 12 and 3.26 xG from 13 shots (FotMob). The opener came at the end of a 15-pass move involving nine players (club report). Cubarsí had 80 touches in the first half alone (LiveScore).
- Fermín between the lines. Fermín scored one and set up two before half-time, and won the ball back for Raphinha's second (club report). Cancelo kept coming inside from left-back, which is how the fourth goal started (LiveScore). Yamal was FotMob's player of the match (9.4).
- What Alavés had. Early on, Ángel Pérez found Rebbach unmarked at the far post and he blazed over (Flashscore); later Alavés hit the bar and Joan García saved from Protesoni (club report). Their goal came from Rodri's loose back pass. The animation is a schematic of Barça's build-up with the new back four; positions are approximate.
Tactical scenes
Alavés defended deep with a five-man midfield, and Barça kept finding the space behind the back four. Pedri released Fermín down the left for the opener, Yamal put Fermín in on the right for the second, Fermín sent Raphinha clear for the third, Gabriel Jesus played Yamal through for the fifth and Rodri did the same for Gordon for the sixth. Only Yamal's shot from the edge of the box came another way.
Evidence: 5 of Barça's 6 goals came from a pass played in behind Alavés's defence: Pedri (8'), Yamal (23'), Fermín (41'), Gabriel Jesus (64') and Rodri (81'), per the club report and FotMob's assist data. Barça had 32 touches in Alavés's box to 12 (FotMob). FC Barcelona match report · FotMob match page · LiveScore: Barcelona player ratings
Recreate it in FM26
FC Barcelona · Barça's possession game with runs in behind · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Barça's possession game with runs in behind
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Joan García | Sweeper Keeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Fariñas | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Cubarsí | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | De Jong | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Cancelo | Inside Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Rodri | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Pedri | Box-to-Box Playmaker | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Yamal | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| AM | Fermín | Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Adeyemi | Wide Forward | Winger |
| ST | Raphinha | Channel Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Attacking TransitionPatient Build-Up
- PatienceWork Ball Into Box
- Creative FreedomMore Expressive
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive LineHigher
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Keep the ball with a Deep-Lying Playmaker and a Box-to-Box Playmaker until the block steps out, then play the runners: an Inside Forward, a Channel Forward and an Attacking Midfielder who all attack the space behind.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce how little Alavés tested a midfielder filling in at centre-back; in the game, a Ball-Playing Centre-Back with low defensive attributes will be punished more often than De Jong was.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Gordon on at 62' (for Adeyemi), Bernal on at 70' (for Rodri). Change very little: the plan worked. Bring Gordon on earlier for more runs in behind and freshen the holding midfielder, which would have taken away the one chance Alavés scored from. It moves FC Barcelona's win chance from 85% to 88% (xG 3.26–0.76 becomes 3.36–0.61). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer FC Barcelona needed
Eric García
De Jong did the passing job from left centre-back. Eric García does the same with a defender's positioning, which matters when a loose ball sends a runner like Mariano through.
Pau Torres
A left-footed centre-back who passes like a midfielder: he would give Barça De Jong's first pass from the left of the back two, plus a defender's recovery runs.
What the analysts said
“This is what I want to see after these two defeats. How we react, it was good and in the right way.”Hansi Flick after the match (ESPN)
“When you score two goals, it's easier to go out.”Hansi Flick on taking Yamal off (ESPN)
“I asked Frenkie if he could play centre-back and he said yes, that he wanted to help the team.”Hansi Flick after the match (Yahoo Sports)
“He deserved these minutes, this game.”Hansi Flick on Brian Fariñas (ESPN)
“You could see he is connected with Lamine. It's very important.”Hansi Flick on Fariñas and Yamal (ESPN)
Barça bounced back by playing behind the defence, not by changing the shape.
What's happening. Barcelona beat Alavés 6–1 at home after the defeats in Paris and in the Clásico. They were 4–0 up at half-time and are two points clear at the top again. With four defenders injured, De Jong played centre-back and Brian Fariñas made his debut at right-back. Fermín scored one and made two.
How it works. Against a deep 4-5-1, the space is behind the back line, not in front of it. Barça kept the ball long enough to pull Alavés's midfield forward, then played the pass behind. Five of the six goals came from a ball over or through the last line. The cost is the same as in Paris and Madrid: lose the ball in midfield and the back line is high and alone. That is how Mariano scored.
What the shots say. Barça's chances were worth more than four times Alavés's, and they scored six (FotMob). One reading: the finishing ran hot against a side without a win in seven, so this proves little about the defence. The other: with a midfielder at centre-back and a debutant at right-back, Barça allowed only seven shots, and the back line was rarely exposed until one loose pass.