Cervera: You can't beat Barcelona with possession, you beat them with speed

Alvaro Cervera has given a hint on how Cadiz are planning to play against Barcelona ahead of their upcoming home game on Saturday at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza.


The Cadiz coach explained that his team will try to score against the Blaugrana through direct football, allowing the visitors to dominate possession.


"We have to know that Barcelona are better than us, but this is a football match," Cervera said at his press conference. "We all like football because many times the lesser team can win.


"I am not going to try to have more touches than Barcelona. We are going to try to make them less comfortable on the field, and when we have the chance, we [will try to] hurt them.


"Hurting Barcelona is not done with an eight-pass move. It is done through speed, direct passes forward and that's the idea."


Barcelona seemed to have rediscovered their form in the last few games and Cervera singled out some players who have stood out lately.


"From my point of view, Barcelona are going through their best period," Cervera added. "I see many players who are on form. Players like [Antoine] Griezmann, [Ousmane] Dembele or [Martin] Braithwaite are on good form.


"Now, they are a team with more intensity than before. Then there is [Lionel] Messi who is the best in the world.


"Barcelona enter the game on the back of scoring four goals against Osasuna, who are a fierce team. Barcelona always have resources for everything. I get used to the idea that these types of players win the game. They are very good, both as a team and individually."


Cervera believes that his side should find the balance between defending and attacking, so they can both soak up pressure and hit on the counter.


"We will try to protect the areas where they are lethal," Cervera noted. "If we lose one of their forwards they will be in position to score.


"We will try to prevent them from sending the ball there, but it not something easy. If you progress up the pitch, players such as [Ousmane] Dembele or Jordi Alba can produce a deadly pass in behind and if you sit back you can't hurt them.


"It's complicated because they have many outlets. They can easily put the ball into certain areas on the pitch and this can prove lethal."

Source:http:///23f42f11201204en_ng?client=newslite

Very accurate.

Teams that have gotten the better of Barcelona did this, and it yielded devastating results.

Play faster, defend solidly, press them hard when they have the ball (it destabilizes them and forces them into committing blunders), when you're on counter-attack move against them, try to make very good use of it, and set pieces too.

Do all these well, and their possession based game will be useless.

But sometimes, you need luck too, because you could do all that and they won't count in the end, especially on days when some key players (especially Messi, he could decide the match with just a genius moment) are really in the mood for you!

It works by 80% though.

Barcelona has been beaten, exactly what he said

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barca for life

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