Barcelona Tactics: Ernesto Valverde Continues Tinkering

Ernesto Valverde moved away from the 4-4-2 he played against Athletic Bilbao in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Sevilla, with Paco Alcácer changing the face of the attack.

This time, Barcelona were 4-3-1-2 in attack, and 4-4-2 in defense. One reason for this was the return of Andrés Iniesta into the team after injury, as André Gomes is the one injured now. Iniesta doesn’t have the speed or stamina to patrol the flank like Gomes, but he offers a much better player on the ball.

We also saw Paco, whose best work is as a penalty box predator, starting, which changed the equation on offense.

He was the guy asked to shift into position and change the shape of the team, by going up as a striker when…