Tuesday 24 February 2015 15:26, UK
Guillem Balague says Barcelona's style can be exposed but warns Man City against all out attack.
Manuel Pellegrini has admitted he wants to take the attack to Barcelona ahead of the clubs last-16 Champions League tie but Manchester City should not ignore Malaga’s 1-0 win over Barcelona at the weekend.
It’s no secret that Luis Enrique’s side are trying to move their style in another direction at the moment but this is a dangerous tactic as I don’t feel they have the players to do this.
The forwards may have a lot of fun but the likes of Andres Iniesta, and even Sergio Busquets, are struggling with the new style. It was also plain to see the centre-backs finding life difficult as they get more and more exposed, just as we saw at the weekend.
They are putting a lot of work into this new style on the training ground but if a team plays, and defends, as well as Malaga did then it can be found out very easily.
Javi Garcia’s side allowed Barcelona plenty of space on the wings and they always had two or three men on Lionel Messi and Neymar. They lined up with two banks of four but with two very fast players up front, who did not shy away from any defensive work.
Malaga did not drop too deep and held their line extremely well. Importantly, when Barcelona got to the byline there was absolutely no lack of concentration from the Malaga defence.
Individually and collectively Malaga were excellent but others can now look to their performance and try to replicate it. There are plenty of other sides out there that can do this and when it does happen Barcelona have not got the positional game or the ability to create collective answers.
This is definitely something to ponder for Manuel Pellegrini, who has said he wants to take the attack to Barcelona and keep the ball away from them.
The former Real Madrid and Malaga boss has admitted he doesn’t want his side to play in the same defensive style as they did last year against Barca and there is no shame in that.
He believes he’s learnt from the mistakes he made in last year’s tie and wants to attack Enrique’s side.
On the one hand, it may be a mistake because Malaga have shown the way to stop Barcelona but on the other, this is not only about winning for Manchester City.
It’s just their second appearance in the last 16 of the Champions League and it’s about creating even more history for the club.
You can hear that when director Txiki Begiristain and Pellegrini speak. This is not about only winning for City, but how they do it!
