While most teams that played against Guardiola's Barcelona sat deep and parked the bus, there were still were a few brave teams who tried to really take the game to Barcelona, pressing very high with extreme intensity and trying to keep Barcelona from getting into a stable passing rythm. When teams employed high pressing against that Barcelona, the result generally was a fantastic and exciting game full of end-to-end football, but still a Barcelona win at the end nevertheless. Barcelona was really quick in exploiting the high line of the adversary's defense with amazing through balls and also were so fantastic and confident on the ball that they would eventually be able get out of the pressing and settle into the game. That Barcelona team pressed better than anyone else, their pressure without the ball could be really insane and fantastically well coordinated. Their counterpressing was notable too.
One fantastic example of this is the Barcelona 5-1 victory away against Espanyol in December 2010. Espanyol had always been a very tough adversary in at least the four previous seasons, with Barcelona winning only 2 out of 8 games played and both were won with a 1-0 score. The 5-1 was a marvelous football game with Espanyol, coached by Pocchetino, playing a very high line and suffocating pressure on all Barcelona's players. Barcelona finished the first half with 58% of ball possession. Espanyol played some great football, had good quality of their own to sometimes get out of Barcelona's pressing, play from the back and had some great chances. But Barcelona was still brilliant throughout the game overall. In the end, Barcelona's high line and team overall were able to press even more than Espanyol and create far more chances. If Espanyol's pressure was asphixiating, Barcelona's managed to be even more than that. Barcelona's quality on the ball was ultimately too great to stop and they also played a more direct game than usual and with more long passes than usual with great sucess. Espanyol's high line was constantly vulnerable to amazing through balls or balls over the top of it.
Barcelona 3-1 Villarreal in November 2010 is also another fantastic example. Very, very high technical level. Villarreal was great, pressed much, created great chances and was fearless against Barcelona. I think that Daniel Alves said after the match that no team before had truly went to attack Barcelona at the Camp Nou like Villarreal did. But in the end Barcelona was still clearly superior in all regards during the match and were deserving of the victory. The second Barcelona goal is a pure beauty, a quick free-kick by Xavi passing to Messi and then a fantastic series of Messi and Pedro one-twos before Messi shipped the ball over the goalkeeper.
https://v-s.mobi/fc-barcellona-vs-villareal-full-match-13-11-2010-hd-1:42:59
I also recommend looking for the first half of Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona in 2011, UCL's Round of 16, First leg. Arsenal started the game extremely well, pressing Barcelona very high and creating great chances. But after the first 10 minutes, Barcelona settled in the game and often made Arsenal chase the shadows throughout the rest of the first half, Arsenal hopelessly trying through pressing to take the ball from Barcelona to no avail, while Barcelona's own high line and insane pressing was taking the ball from Arsenal all the time. There were moments in the first half in which Arsenal chased shadows for 1 or 2 straight minutes non-stop! Barcelona's goal in the first half also came from a through ball by Messi that dissected Arsenal's high line after a very quick free kick. In the second half, Barcelona increasingly grew lenient, Arsenal grew and scored two late goals in great lightning fast counter-attacks. Arsenal created many chances in this game in this manner. Overall, a very entertaining match full of end-to-end football and very high technical level.
Mourinho's Madrid attempted this strategy of pressing very high too with varying degrees of sucess in different games. The first half of the 2011 Copa Del Rey final and the extra-time were a sucess. Barcelona couldn't have stable possession and Real was in control. Messi kept dropping deep to get the ball, making him less of an attacking threat, and Barcelona didn't have a shot on target in the whole first half, their passing was unreconizable and very poor.
Another instance was the 3-1 defeat at the Bernabéu against Barcelona in 2011. Real pressed high and like mad men and scored an early goal after Valdés' blunder. Then Barcelona was stifled in the first 30 minutes of the first half, unable to have stable possession and get into their rythm. Guardiola then made many tactical switches, such as Busquets as more of a centre-back, Xavi in Pirlo's role and Puyol as left-back marking CR7. Barcelona suddenly scored their first goal. This, combined with Guardiola's tactical changes, allowed Barcelona to start to have dominance in the game from then on, though CR7 still missed two huge chances that normally he would have scored. Barcelona in the end won the game 3-1 with Real's players' spirit visibly shaken and crushed.
But probably the game in which Real truly outplayed Barcelona when playing very intense high was the second leg of Copa Del Rey quarter-finals. It was a 2-2 draw very unfair to Real. Specially in most of the second half, Real was far superior and created (and wasted) so many clear goal chances. A great Madrid performance. Barcelona had moments of great football, but were sloppy and unfocused in most of the game. Overall, a match of very, very, very high technical level, extremely exciting and fast, intense and one of the best Clásicos of the 2010s! Honestly my favorite Guardiola-Mourinho game, I'm not counting the 5-0 hammering because it was one-sided, though I freaking love the 5-0 and consider Barcelona's performance in it the absolute technical and artistical peak of football!
Probably the team that was more consistently sucessful, though, in truly stifling Barcelona with a very high line was Emery's Valencia, specially when Barcelona played away, at the Mestalla. Barcelona only defeated Valencia once in the Mestalla in the entirety of Guardiola's four seasons. And even then it was a very tough 1-0 with Barcelona having their lowest percentage of possession in the season and only around 75% of pass completion. 75% of pass completion was abysmal for that Barcelona team, they would have at least 85%, generally around 90%, of pass completion in the games. About the games against Valencia at the Camp Nou, more specifically the 3-0 in 2010 and 2-1, also in 2010, had the following script: Barcelona awful in the first half, but rampant and wonderful in the second. In the case of the 2-1 victory, Barcelona lost the first half 1-0 and in the first 30 minutes of the game Valencia achieved the unthinkable: more ball possession than Barcelona!
Still, the general case was that to truly stifle that Barcelona team, the best option was always sitting very deep and look for speedy counter-attacks. But a game between Klopp's Liverpool and Guardiola's Barcelona would be cracking to see. Klopp surely would do what the teams above did, but better: press very high with insane intensity alongside amazing counter-attacks. Still, Barcelona's technical superiority and supreme quality and confidence with the ball would make Barcelona the most likely winner.
One fantastic example of this is the Barcelona 5-1 victory away against Espanyol in December 2010. Espanyol had always been a very tough adversary in at least the four previous seasons, with Barcelona winning only 2 out of 8 games played and both were won with a 1-0 score. The 5-1 was a marvelous football game with Espanyol, coached by Pocchetino, playing a very high line and suffocating pressure on all Barcelona's players. Barcelona finished the first half with 58% of ball possession. Espanyol played some great football, had good quality of their own to sometimes get out of Barcelona's pressing, play from the back and had some great chances. But Barcelona was still brilliant throughout the game overall. In the end, Barcelona's high line and team overall were able to press even more than Espanyol and create far more chances. If Espanyol's pressure was asphixiating, Barcelona's managed to be even more than that. Barcelona's quality on the ball was ultimately too great to stop and they also played a more direct game than usual and with more long passes than usual with great sucess. Espanyol's high line was constantly vulnerable to amazing through balls or balls over the top of it.
Barcelona 3-1 Villarreal in November 2010 is also another fantastic example. Very, very high technical level. Villarreal was great, pressed much, created great chances and was fearless against Barcelona. I think that Daniel Alves said after the match that no team before had truly went to attack Barcelona at the Camp Nou like Villarreal did. But in the end Barcelona was still clearly superior in all regards during the match and were deserving of the victory. The second Barcelona goal is a pure beauty, a quick free-kick by Xavi passing to Messi and then a fantastic series of Messi and Pedro one-twos before Messi shipped the ball over the goalkeeper.
https://v-s.mobi/fc-barcellona-vs-villareal-full-match-13-11-2010-hd-1:42:59
I also recommend looking for the first half of Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona in 2011, UCL's Round of 16, First leg. Arsenal started the game extremely well, pressing Barcelona very high and creating great chances. But after the first 10 minutes, Barcelona settled in the game and often made Arsenal chase the shadows throughout the rest of the first half, Arsenal hopelessly trying through pressing to take the ball from Barcelona to no avail, while Barcelona's own high line and insane pressing was taking the ball from Arsenal all the time. There were moments in the first half in which Arsenal chased shadows for 1 or 2 straight minutes non-stop! Barcelona's goal in the first half also came from a through ball by Messi that dissected Arsenal's high line after a very quick free kick. In the second half, Barcelona increasingly grew lenient, Arsenal grew and scored two late goals in great lightning fast counter-attacks. Arsenal created many chances in this game in this manner. Overall, a very entertaining match full of end-to-end football and very high technical level.
Mourinho's Madrid attempted this strategy of pressing very high too with varying degrees of sucess in different games. The first half of the 2011 Copa Del Rey final and the extra-time were a sucess. Barcelona couldn't have stable possession and Real was in control. Messi kept dropping deep to get the ball, making him less of an attacking threat, and Barcelona didn't have a shot on target in the whole first half, their passing was unreconizable and very poor.
Another instance was the 3-1 defeat at the Bernabéu against Barcelona in 2011. Real pressed high and like mad men and scored an early goal after Valdés' blunder. Then Barcelona was stifled in the first 30 minutes of the first half, unable to have stable possession and get into their rythm. Guardiola then made many tactical switches, such as Busquets as more of a centre-back, Xavi in Pirlo's role and Puyol as left-back marking CR7. Barcelona suddenly scored their first goal. This, combined with Guardiola's tactical changes, allowed Barcelona to start to have dominance in the game from then on, though CR7 still missed two huge chances that normally he would have scored. Barcelona in the end won the game 3-1 with Real's players' spirit visibly shaken and crushed.
But probably the game in which Real truly outplayed Barcelona when playing very intense high was the second leg of Copa Del Rey quarter-finals. It was a 2-2 draw very unfair to Real. Specially in most of the second half, Real was far superior and created (and wasted) so many clear goal chances. A great Madrid performance. Barcelona had moments of great football, but were sloppy and unfocused in most of the game. Overall, a match of very, very, very high technical level, extremely exciting and fast, intense and one of the best Clásicos of the 2010s! Honestly my favorite Guardiola-Mourinho game, I'm not counting the 5-0 hammering because it was one-sided, though I freaking love the 5-0 and consider Barcelona's performance in it the absolute technical and artistical peak of football!
Probably the team that was more consistently sucessful, though, in truly stifling Barcelona with a very high line was Emery's Valencia, specially when Barcelona played away, at the Mestalla. Barcelona only defeated Valencia once in the Mestalla in the entirety of Guardiola's four seasons. And even then it was a very tough 1-0 with Barcelona having their lowest percentage of possession in the season and only around 75% of pass completion. 75% of pass completion was abysmal for that Barcelona team, they would have at least 85%, generally around 90%, of pass completion in the games. About the games against Valencia at the Camp Nou, more specifically the 3-0 in 2010 and 2-1, also in 2010, had the following script: Barcelona awful in the first half, but rampant and wonderful in the second. In the case of the 2-1 victory, Barcelona lost the first half 1-0 and in the first 30 minutes of the game Valencia achieved the unthinkable: more ball possession than Barcelona!
Still, the general case was that to truly stifle that Barcelona team, the best option was always sitting very deep and look for speedy counter-attacks. But a game between Klopp's Liverpool and Guardiola's Barcelona would be cracking to see. Klopp surely would do what the teams above did, but better: press very high with insane intensity alongside amazing counter-attacks. Still, Barcelona's technical superiority and supreme quality and confidence with the ball would make Barcelona the most likely winner.
