Barcelona were dominant in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League clash at Wembley.
Prior to the match, the Catalan press suggested that Ernesto Valverde would change the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, which would see Ousmane Dembele settling for a place on the bench.
The latter did happen in the European fixture, but the former Athletic Club Bilbao manager stuck to 4-3-3 system and played Arthur in the midfield along with Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic, while Philippe Coutinho partnered Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to lead the attack.
Sport has a story about the Blaugrana’s latest win and they claim the La Liga winners’ manager is expected to continue use the Wembley formation for the upcoming matches.
It’s claimed the display against Spurs was the Spanish champions’ best game of the season so far and have backed Valverde to use the ‘formula’ going forward.
The newspaper pinpoints the manager’s idea of deploying the summer signing in the midfield brought balance and the team appeared more compact, both while attacking and defending.
Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Roberto missed the trip to London due to injuries and once they return to the starting lineup, it should only provide more stability in the defence.
With this system, Dembele and Arturo Vidal will struggle to get regular minutes, but if it brings balance and results, doubt Valverde or Barcelona would be really worried about the two players. The duo can be used as luxury substitutes.
The next tie is against Valencia at Mestalla on Sunday and it should be seen whether the 54-year-old decides to stick to his latest formation or not.
