Barcelona have made a successful debut in this season’s Copa del Rey and are safely through to the next round thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 win over third tier Guadalajara in their Round of 32 tie at the Pedro
Escartín Stadium on Tuesday evening. Hansi Flick made several chnges to the lineup and his team struggled in the first half, but an improved performance in the final period and two late goals gave the Blaugrana the victory and a spot in the Last 16.
Reactions & Observations
- There was a lot of intrigue about how Hansi Flick would set up his team, and Barça started the game in a classic 4-3-3 shape with Marc Casadó at right-back, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen at center-back, Jofre Torrents at left-back, Marc Bernal as the pivot with Lamine Yamal and Frenkie de Jong as interiors, Roony Bardghji and Fermín López on the wings, and Marcus Rashford up top.
- Guadalajara came out in 5-4-1 and parked the bus from the beginning, forcing Barça to be patient in possession and looking to limit the Blaugrana’s firepower.
- And the home team succeeded in their plan: despite having more than 80% possession throughout the half, Barça never created a truly great chance and most of their danger came from long-distance shots and free-kicks, and the closest they ever came to scoring was through a rocket by Fermín López that went millimeters over the bar. Dani Vicente never had to make a great save for the hosts, who successfully frustrated the Catalans for most of the period.
- Rashford struggled as a central striker, losing the ball in promising positions and not getting involved in the action nearly as much as he does on the wing. His attacking partners didn’t provide him with great service either, to be fair, and Yamal was especially wasteful with his passing in the final third.
- Jofre Torrents had a strong first half at left-back, playing well through the press in the rare moments when Guadalajara defended higher up the pitch and striking a really nice partnership with Fermín down the left wing.
- Barça’s best moves all came down that left flank, and the Blaugrana looked their most threatening when Fermín, Jofre and De Jong — who played a lot further up the pitch than usual — combined to create some really nice offense.
- The game was goalless at the break and Barça had an xG of 0.37 despite finishing the half with 85% possession, 10 shots in total, and four on target. A perfect representation of their issues in the final third.
- Hansi Flick went to work at halftime, with one substitution (Pau Cubarsí for Bernal) and six position changes — Eric at right-back, Casadó and Roony in midfield, Yamal on the right wing, Rashford on the left, and Fermín as a false nine — that transformed the Blaugrana setup to begin the second half.
- The feel of the game changed completely as Barça looked a lot more comfortable and dangerous after Flick’s tactical moves, and Vicente had to make two monster saves against Rashford to stop Barça from scoring twice in the first seven minutes of the period.
- After 15 great minutes to begin the second half, Barça’s threat disappeared again and Guadalajara started to believe. The home team started to take more chances going forward, and could have easily taken the lead if not for a sensational block by Christensen to stop a tap-in by Alejandro Cañizo. Toño Calvo also came very close with a great solo run and a shot that went just wide, and the game was very much up for grabs as we reached the dying moments.
- And then, with 15 minutes to go, Barça finally broke the deadlock thanks to some major luck: De Jong with a great cross into the far post to find Christensen, whose header needed a big deflection by Julio Martínez to finally beat Vicente and put the Blaugrana ahead.
- The hosts almost responded immediately on the counter, but Ter Stegen made a big save to deny Mendes. That turned out to be Guadalajara’s best chance, and their hearts were broken in the 90th minute thanks to a brilliant assist by Yamal and a great finish by Rashford to seal the win for the visitors.
- This was a hard-fought victory and Barça were bit at their best, but the second half was much better once all the players were in the right positions and the attacking play was a lot more fluid. The two goals came late but Barça deserved it in the end, even though Guadalajara should get credit for a really good defensive performance in front of a great home crowd. In the end, this was a proper Cup tie and a night this small town will remember for a while.
