Possession not nine-tenths of law as Valverde reinvents Barcelona style

The protagonist is the same as always, and much of the supporting players were there as usual.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde looks on from the touchline during his side's 3-0 win over Liverpool. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

The main difference for Lionel Messi and his Barcelona team-mates this time was the coach.

Barcelona have reinvented themselves under Ernesto Valverde, showing they can change their style when needed and still be successful.

The match against Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night was a perfect example. Barcelona were forced to relinquish their ball-possession game, but still came away with a 3-0 victory that left the club in a strong position to reach their first final since they won their last European title four years ago.

“They were able to impose their back-and-forth game and it made it difficult for us,” Valverde said. “We tried to slow down the pace but they kept pressing. I liked how we knew how to suffer and how we came up with answers. We pulled off a victory against a very strong team.”

Despite playing at home, Barcelona finished with less ball possession than Liverpool, 48 per cent to 52 per cent. It was the first time a team held more possession than Barcelona in the Champions League since the semi-final against Bayern Munich in 2015.

“We played their game, their physically demanding pace. It was counter-attack against counter-attack,” said Messi, pictured, who scored twice to add to Luis Suarez’s opening goal at the Camp Nou. “We aren’t used to that. We like having possession of the ball and making the opponent run after the ball. We were exhausted, but that’s what the match demanded. We had to compete anyway we could.”

Liverpool also exchanged more passes than Barcelona (482-457), and ended with more attempts (14-11) and corners (5-3). Barcelona’s defence were pinned down during parts of the game, needing 24 clearances against seven by Liverpool.

“I don’t know if we can play much better, to be honest,” Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said.

Valverde had hinted even before the game started that ball possession might not have been the main focus for Barcelona, adding the more defensive-minded Arturo Vidal to the starting line-up in midfield instead of the more technical Arthur. The Brazilian has taken over the role of Andre Iniesta as the team’s pace-setter, becoming the man responsible for controlling possession.

But although the back-and-forth game was supposed to favour Liverpool and their pacy attack, Barcelona were the most threatening side in the end, and they could have scored more goals if they had capitalised on a few late counter-attacks.

The defence also played a key role, holding strong when Liverpool pressed forward, with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen again producing a great performance and making a few important saves to keep Klopp’s team from getting a vital away goal.

Barcelona conceded that away goal in a 3-1 win over Roma in the first leg of last year’s quarter-finals at Camp Nou, eventually being eliminated in Italy after a 3-0 loss.

“It’s similar to last year, we also have a three-goal advantage, but look what happened then,” Valverde said. “We still have to play well in the second leg.”