The Daily Discussion - Want To Beat Barca? Just Keep The Ball....

By The Stock

Busquets up against Fabregas in last year's Champion's League tie

With his team already 4-0 down, Cristiano Ronaldo cushioned the ball with his instep in the centre circle: the loud whistles from the Culés ringing in his ears; the Camp Nou floodlights illuminating El Clásico with 90,000 Socis all baying for his blood. They wouldn’t get a taste. Alerted to his threat and presence the Blaugrana hunting pack of Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández quickly scrambled as they had so many times that evening. Their mission: retrieve the ball. At all costs.

Countless column inches have been filled heaping praise on what is a genuinely special Barcelona team. I could continue in a similar vein by regurgitating the vision and footballing philosophy of Pep Guardiola or the ‘piggy in the middle’ sessions at the La Masia academy that Xavi believes makes him the player he is today. But I won’t because we’ve heard and seen it all before.

So has Arsene Wenger and his latest batch of bright young things who welcome Barça to the Emirates tonight in a mouth-watering Champions League tie. The Frenchman knows that his team is technically inferior to its lauded opposition and he will be the first to admit that if the Blaugrana get into their infamous tika-taka stride then his players will be in for a tough night.

But what sets this Barcelona team apart from its predecessors and pretenders, and what will similarly concern Wenger, is what they do without the football. They press and bustle teams high up the pitch, tackling ferociously and harrying opposition into misplacing passes and surrendering possession from which defence is turned immediately into attack.

“Without the ball you can’t win” once remarked Johann Cruff. And he is dead right. By stifling Barça of possession you immediately negate their ability to harm you offensively. Correspondingly, if the Gunners retain their share of the ball then a team of their technical ability will fancy themselves to expose some of those defensive frailties that historically the Catalans have always failed to iron out.

Therefore, Arsenal must keep hold of the ball tonight and not squander possession unnecessarily. This will be no mean feat with Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets et al snapping at their heels. However, if any team has players capable of playing keep-ball then it is the Gunners. If they don’t the pack will smell blood and for those unsure as to how that ends, just ask Cristiano Ronaldo.