Wednesday 21 September 2016 09:05, UK
How Luis Enrique has moved away from Pep Guardiola's collective approach to get the most out of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar...
Barcelona thrashed Celtic in the Champions League last week, with Messi, Suarez and Neymar scoring six of their seven goals. It was the first time Barca's front three had started together for more than 100 days and they showed just why they are so important to Enrique's team.
The trio were all on target against Leganes on Saturday, too, taking their combined scoring record to an incredible 270 goals in 318 appearances since the summer of 2014 when Suarez joined Messi and Neymar at the Nou Camp.
After the Celtic match, Andres Iniesta said: "We play and work to make sure the three of them are happy, that they get chances. All we can hope is that they keep scoring like that."
Those words sum up the change Barcelona have gone through under Enrique's management since the days of Guardiola.
When Guardiola was in charge, it was all about the team as a collective. Now, Barcelona's tactics are based on getting the ball to Messi, Suarez and Neymar quickly - and relying on that trio to deliver. We are not saying what is better or worse, but it is a different Barcelona.
Barcelona are playing far more directly under Enrique than they did under Guardiola. In La Liga last season, Barcelona made over 2,700 fewer passes than they did in Guardiola's final year in charge. That's a 10 per cent reduction.
They also played 271 more long passes and made fewer passes in the final third than they did previously.
While Barcelona's possession and passing accuracy numbers remain high, there has been a clear shift to a different style under Enrique.
There has been a move away from the possession-based approach under Pep to a more direct tactic under Luis Enrique.
There has been a move away from the possession-based approach under Guardiola to a more direct tactic with Enrique in charge.
Barcelona have still been successful with this new approach. They won La Liga, Copa del Rey and the World Club Cup last season.
But Enrique may have a problem later this season. Will the rest of the team come up with solutions when Messi, Suarez and Neymar don't fire?
Those three players scored 79 per cent of Barcelona's goals last season in La Liga. That's a real shift from Guardiola's final season when his top three goalscorers were responsible for just 43 per cent of all of the team's goals.
The number of different goalscorers Barcelona have had in the Champions League and La Liga has also dropped since the days of Guardiola.
In 2011/12 Barca had 16 different goalscorers in La Liga and 11 different goalscorers in the Champions League. Last season they had just 11 different goalscorers in La Liga and seven different goalscorers in the Champions League.
In other words, all across the pitch players were chipping in with goals and helping the team to win. Now Barcelona are more dependent on their front three.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar have done a pretty good job so far, but it will be interesting to see how the team as a whole copes when they come up against tough challenges later this season. The front three can't always do it on their own.
