The doubt about the goal and the task of Pedri and Lamine, keys for Barça in the Classic

Barça will face Madrid with the first title of the season at stake at the Al Jawhara Stadium in Yida. It is Hansi Flick’s first final on the Barça bench in a match that always sets trends and that could be a relaunch for the Barça team. The story will be very different from the last League match. Here are my tactical keys for this great duel:

1. The doubt about the goal

Wojciech Szczęsny’s starting role in the semi-final and his notable performance has raised doubts in the position. The goalkeeper demonstrated his main virtues: a lot of experience, magnificent positioning and great security from above. He finished with five stops, with 42 of the 49 passes reaching their destination and being infallible in the six overhand starts that Barça needed. Furthermore, although it is true that the lions beat him once (goal disallowed), he signed his second consecutive clean sheet.

The dilemma is served, since Iñaki Peña’s performances have also been good so far. A priori, tonight’s challenge will require better footwork than aerial performance, but this last factor can be decisive in set-piece actions. It will be interesting to see the Barça coach’s decision, but if we follow football logic, Szczęsny has earned to play in this final.

2. Gavi to press, Olmo to break

This time Dani Olmo will be able to play. The attacker is a basic piece in the Barça team. He is the best player on the squad in the game between the lines, ideal for developing what Hansi Flick is looking for in the position. But in recent weeks the figure of Gavi has emerged with great force. The youth player has had two magnificent matches against highly demanding rivals such as Atlético de Madrid and Athletic in the most advanced position in the engine room. His presence provides an increase in pressure and collective energy that is decisive for the Barça team to have recovered its best version in high pressure.

In addition, he plays his positional role well, stretching his rivals so that Pedri is freer and steps well in the area. He finished with a goal and an assist in the semifinal, so it is unthinkable that Flick will take him out of the eleven right now. This would mean that he would be the one to start the match in the midfield, reserving the last stretch of the match so that Dani Olmo can wreak havoc in the interior spaces. A double weapon to overcome Camavinga or Valverde depending on who manages that area for Madrid.

3. Raphinha against Lucas

Without a doubt, the cardinal point in which Barça will be most qualitatively superior. In terms of form and football performance, the Brazilian is clearly better than the Madrid substitute full-back. Furthermore, the right sector of Ancelotti’s men will be completed with the presence of a Tchouaméni (depending on where he is) or by Asencio. Be that as it may, both defenders are not the most reliable pieces for coverage.

Raphinha has to lavish his efforts on opening spaces because he will be one of the best options to generate clear scoring chances. If the Brazilian insists on breaks to win the backs, he will surely have them. The team has to know it and look for it. Even more so when in the opposite hemisphere he has the best left foot to assist in the football scene today (Lamine Yamal).

4. Lamine and surroundings

As he himself is responsible for demonstrating with each performance, his participation will once again be decisive for Barça. At his age, he is already the most influential footballer in the Barça game and on the current European scene. This is a footballer who interprets everything well. He knows how to be patient, maintaining the width of the field so that his fellow midfielders have more space, he knows how to intervene as necessary to make an impact and overflows with determination and ease when necessary.

It is also unpredictable because it can do it from the outside and inside. If Madrid decides to be extremely cautious about him, it could be decisive in assisting distant players like Raphinha, Lewandowski or Balde. If you have space, you can be decisive with your individual talent. In addition, it improves nearby teammates (Koundé, Lewa…) by getting rid of rivals.

5. Pedri’s tempo

He and Lamine are the pause between the vertigo of Flick’s Barça. This mix is ​​one of the great virtues of the Barça team. And precisely because of what it represents and its spectacular moment of play, it will be important for it to participate as much as possible. Against Atlético de Madrid and against Athletic, the team found him 97 and 80 times respectively, a higher figure than is usual. Barça appreciates that he is the one who pilots the attacks for many things: for his vision of the game, for his necessary temperance in the collective game and for his great judgment in selecting transitions. If Pedri comes into play a lot, Barça will do well.