Lluís Cortés Masterclass: How Barcelona took advantage of Chelsea's defensive frailties

A new name was etched on the UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy last night in Gothenburg, Sweden as Barcelona slew Chelsea in a game that was expected to be riddled with tactical nuances and intricate battles. In reality, Barcelona did to Chelsea what Lyon did to them in 2019 with a first half that saw waves of attacks and goals galore.

We’ve seen Barcelona do this to an English side already with Manchester City feeling the fluid and unforgiving movement of the Spanish side, so it’s a result Barcelona had in their locker but still a surprise given Chelsea’s dominance in the Women’s Super League this season.

Barcelona did a lot of things right. Their every press, movement, and tackle came off and put Chelsea under undue pressure for 90 minutes. While the back four led by Mapi Leon were able to keep Pernille Harder and co. at bay, it was their front line who stole the show. Jenni Hermoso, Caroline Graham Hansen, and Lieke Martens ran Chelsea’s defenders ragged, as some of the pressure also came in thanks to their midfield’s excellent pressing.

Let’s understand where Chelsea faltered and Barcelona capitalised. Chelsea’s issues originated from a combination of poor defending in 1 v 1 positions and positional play. The full-backs were particularly at fault with Hansen and Martens isolating them on several occasions. Hermoso’s movement as the false nine created space and pulled Chelsea’s centre-backs out of position at times, giving Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí space to occupy in the box.

What’s more, Chelsea’s midfielders were not quick enough to react to Barcelona’s fast-paced transitions and counter-attacks, which again left the defence slightly exposed. Putting all this together, you find that Barcelona might not have used overly complex tactics, but rather took advantage of small details.

****

Barcelona’s use of the 4-3-3 is a very fluid yet positional system that sees each player fulfil a specific role. The two wingers use width in build-up and attempt to isolate the full-backs and come inside with the central striker acting as the false nine to create space. 

This had a knock-on effect to drag the full-backs away from their position to create a bigger gap between the Chelsea defenders leaving space for midfield runners.

Barcelona’s pass map here shows their high line, with the two midfielders and attackers all over the halfway line. Only Kheira Hamraoui was left deep to provide protection. This aided their high tempo press and ability to transition and dominate in Chelsea’s half in the first 45 minutes. 

The holding midfielder acts as a safety net to alleviate pressure off their players, giving them a passing outlet. The two central midfielders are ball recyclers and box-to-box midfielders who attempt to use the space created by the forward players. Hermoso in particular was sublime in her role as the false nine when it came to creating space and was involved in four of Barcelona’s goals in some capacity.

Chelsea decided to match Barcelona’s shape by applying their own 4-3-3 with Harder as the central striker with a degree of fluidity and positional rotations with Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby. The defensive line was stood high to try and stop Barcelona from entering their final third and having time to build up. The full-backs were especially high which is shown by Niamh Charles’ (#21) positioning.

If you play a high line, there are two important factors to consider. The first is pace in the back line which Charles has in abundance but none of the three Chelsea defenders possess; and secondly, the control of possession. When you have ball control, you give the opposition fewer chances to score. 

Barcelona effectively exploited the space behind the full-backs by isolating and taking them in 1 v 1 engagements. They demonstrated this in the build-up to the second goal which began with Martens leading the attack and the defensive line retreating with wide gaps between them.

Hansen is positioned just outside of Jess Carter who is ball watching. Though she knows where the ball is going to be played, the Norwegian winger already has the space and sight advantage. Carter’s body positioning here isn’t the best given she isn’t quick enough to mark Hansen in a foot race.

Though Hansen shrugs Carter off the ball, the winger was a favourite to get past her and gets to the byline...

...where she cuts back for Hermoso as she is only followed by Melanie Leupolz who unfortunately gave away the penalty. The space around Hermoso is vast and comes from the quick transitions from the wingers in the wide spaces. All of this gave Barcelona an xG of 2.25 so they massively overperformed in their attacking output.

We’ve already seen examples of Chelsea’s high line and full-backs’ positioning but what also helped was the press and movement of Barcelona’s midfielders. Bonmatí and Putellas were the base of everything that Barcelona did well in combination with the front three, starting with the press. Lluís Cortés targeted Ji so-Yun as the one to press and the plan worked with the three midfielders instructed to press her at every opportunity.

This inevitably happened in Chelsea’s half-spaces or zone 14 which resulted in a counter-attack, putting Barcelona in an advantageous position. Bonmatí and Putellas took advantage of the space created by the front three with their ability to recognise and use the spaces effectively, which was incredible. 

If Hermoso dropped deep, Putellas or Bonmatí pushed forward. Even if Martens or Hansen were in possession, the movement between the players never stopped. 

Cortés wanted to ensure none of their players gave Chelsea’s midfielders time to mark them. Ingle is positionally excellent but isn’t the most mobile while Ji isn’t the most effective presser.

The third goal probably typifies this concept best, which began with Martens hugging the touchline and getting past Charles into the vacant space.

This movement forces Millie Bright across but opens up a huge gap between her and Eriksson. What’s important here is Hermoso’s slightly deeper position, keeping Chelsea’s captain at bay. On the near side, you have Hansen on Carter’s shoulder.

Martens’ pull-back into space triggers Hermoso to drop and in effect drags Eriksson and Ingle forward, but her quick pass to Putellas opens up space behind the Swedish central defender. 

Bonmatí evades Ji and makes a darting run into said space and scores to give Barcelona their third goal. The brilliant work by Martens, Hermoso, Putellas, and Bonmatí created a near-perfect Barcelona goal whilst involving their core players.

****

Chelsea regrouped and showed fight and more of what we came to expect from this game but it was over from the very first minute. They will be disappointed but given their defensive struggles in the earlier rounds, it’s little surprise that Barcelona were able to capitalise. Atlético Madrid, Wolfsburg, and Bayern Munich failed to take advantage across their two-legged fixtures, but it needed the competition’s most consistent team to produce a scintillating display.

Barcelona have taken the mantle from Lyon for this season but the tournament bodes well for future seasons with four to five teams showing their capabilities to win. Chelsea will regroup and come back next season with this experience behind them just like Barcelona had from 2019.