Newcastle vs Barcelona summary: score, stats, goals, & highlights | UEFA Champions League Round of 16

Tactical Tuesdays…

Now for my regular feature that I’m starting today, called Tactical Tuesdays. Whether or not it’ll kick on remains to be seen, but we’ve got a cracker today.

Barcelona’s high line is the recurring theme for Hansi Flick’s side since he joined the club, as he has the Catalans playing a crazily on-the-edge system that puts his defenders at risk of running back towards their own goal at any moment.

While it’s a risky strategy, it has seen them thrive in the domestic competition and they are able to get the best out of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, with a crushing press led by the Brazilian’s incessant work rate.

Starting so high up allows the rest of the team to move forward and into advanced areas without creating huge gaps between the lines of the press, something that would easily be exploited by opponents.

Flick’s gamble is that it’s more beneficial to have a big space in behind than a big space through which the opponent can play, and so far it’s working in the majority of cases.