The 4-4-2 diamond had produced wins against Espanyol and Valladolid as well as two excellent attacking performances in the 4-1 win against fifth-placed Villarreal and 2-2 draw with Atlético. He’s also given the wingers more license to fly forwards. As of right now, Jurgen Klopp’s answer on defense is to use midfielder Fabinho in the back four with Joel Matip on the mend. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. But just about 10 minutes in, Fabinho fouled Blades No. Normally a top goal scorer, Southampton’s Danny Ings had two assists and Lucas Digne got shown a 72nd minute red card in Everton’s 2-0 loss at St. Mary’s Stadium. The Champions League quarter-finals get underway tonight. In front of this Lyon are also protected by a narrow but very energetic midfield three of Caqueret, Guimarães and Aouar. PSG’s enforced change of system with three defensive-minded midfielders may actually benefit them in terms of preventing these wide overloads, as well as tracking Atalanta’s runners behind their defence. A week after Virgil van Dijk’s tragic torn ACL in the Merseyside Derby, Liverpool is still adjusting to his loss. Aguero’s replacement Phil Foden scored the equalizer in the 51st minute, salvaging a point for a City side that should be doing a lot more. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. Malinovskiyi often dribbles inside off the right and shoots with his hammer of a left foot and Muriel uses his pace to run in-behind and linking well with Zapata’s hold-up play. The intensity and, most importantly, the synchronisation of Bayern’s pressing under Hansi Flick is outstanding. ‘As I have heard from several sides, the decision the player has come to is one that has matured over several years and is irrevocable. Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate? But then Liverpool would save itself and all three points in the 64th, when Mane’s picture perfect cross into the box was headed home by Wolves transfer Diogo Jota for a badly-needed winner. Marcos Llorente, developed in the Real Madrid youth setup as a defensive midfielder, came on to partner João Félix (then Morata) in the front two of Simeone’s preferred 4-4-2. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. Therefore, the aforementioned Carrasco, Morata and/or Correa could be the key protagonists for Atlético, with their runs in-behind. Breaking down where Champions League quarter-finals will be won & lost, You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully, Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable, Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties, We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification. Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images. -At that top of the table, Everton and Aston Villa both lost this weekend in convincing fashion. Manchester City is off to its worst Premier League start in six years after a 1-1 road draw at West Ham, which has impressively beaten Leicester and Wolves soundly before draws against City and Spurs in its last four matches. However, as Chelsea learnt, the pass, run and first touch has to be perfect because the likes of Alaba and Davies have such tremendous recovery pace. I'm a senior contributor covering the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, soccer, esports and more. They may look to funnel the ball inside Marçal to Marcelo who is much less comfortable on-the-ball, then aggressively press him with Jesus’ energy or Foden/Bernardo if they play as false nines, like they did at different points across the Real Madrid games. And Patrick Bamford had a road hat trick in Leeds’ 3-0 shocking win at Villa. Whilst also setting the defensive tone that El Cholo demands, by pressing aggressively from the front. A Champions League match on Tuesday against Olympique Marseille isn’t as important after an opening week win against Porto. Barcelona (Upcake22) vs Man City (Olle) predictions, football tips and statistics for this match of Esoccer Battle - 8 mins play on 23/09/2020 So if Messi still wants a Nou start, where might the six-time Ballon d’Or winner end up? The Argentine handed in a transfer request last week after almost two decades at Camp Nou, winning 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies. Verratti was brilliant but picked up an injury so will have to be replaced by one of Paredes or Herrera. That plan was successful midweek in the Champions League win at Ajax, but started a bit slowly at home against anemic Sheffield United even with Alisson back from an injury in goal. Aguero had just returned from a knee injury in last week’s 1-0 win against Arsenal, and City doesn’t really have striker depth with Gabriel Jesus still a week or two away from returning from a thigh injury. If so, the tussle between Ekambi and Fernandinho, down Man City’s right side, could be crucial. In the subsequent games, Llorente has surprisingly shown excellent attacking instincts in the box as a second striker. Lionel Messi joining Manchester City is ‘likely’, says Barcelona presidential candidate . With this formation, Messi and Griezmann fluidly rotate as the number 10 and strike partner for Suárez. In Manchester City the two top defensive players are Rodri and Benjamin Mendy. Aguero’s Injury Amplifies City’s Slow Start. Match results for Barcelona (dangerdim77) - Manchester City (foggy) 5 April 2020. A main weaknesses of Atalanta’s system is that Gasperini asks his midfield double pivot to push up really high to support the high press of their forwards. 9 Oliver McBurnie on the edge of the box, which was upgraded to a penalty after VAR looked at it. Notre Page Facebook; Notre discord; barcelona vs manchester city 2020. par | Oct 1, 2020 | Uncategorized | 0 commentaires | Oct 1, 2020 | Uncategorized | 0 commentaires Roberto Firmino scored Liverpool's first goal on Saturday as it tries to adjust to the loss of the ... [+] injured Virgil van Dijk. You should follow him on Twitter. And as Liverpool buys time to sort itself out, that’ll do just fine for the champs. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. It would only be logical if both of them worked together again. Arminia Bielefeld 1-4 FC Bayern Highlights 17/10/2020. Yannick Carrasco in particular has benefitted from this, with 5 goals/assists in 473 minutes since the restart. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. There was also an important tactical adaptation that Simeone has carried forward from that night at Anfield. He’s alternated between playing a three-man defence, 4-3-3 and a flat 4-4-2. Was it pretty? Barca have been on a downward slope for years and their humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League reinforced how far they have fallen. injured Virgil van Dijk. In the PSG camp, injuries to Mbappé and Di Maria mean Tuchel must ditch the attacking 4-4-2 he lined up with in the games either side of lockdown (Dortmund second leg and Coupe de France final). Shlomo Sprung is a senior contributing writer at Forbes SportsMoney. The two central midfielders (De Roon and Freuler) carry and pass the ball into these wide areas. United was looking to continue its momentum from a huge Champions League away win at Paris Saint Germain while Chelsea was looking to right the ship after disappointing home draws against Sevilla in the CL and Southampton domestically. Since, they kept a clean sheet in the first leg, a clean sheet in the French League Cup final vs PSG and conceded very few chances at the Juventus stadium (despite the harsh penalty for handball and Ronaldo’s long-range goal). 5 days ago 56 0 0. The third will be between another target man Yussuf Poulsen (but this may be ill-advised given how Atlético’s centre-backs are so aerially dominant) and creative number 10 Dani Olmo.