This week in tactics: How Luis Enrique’s 3-man back line reignited Barcelona’s season

Barcelona have seen a resurgence after getting blown out in the Champions League three weeks ago. To what extent can we attribute their recent success to a change in formation?

A little over two weeks ago, it looked like Barcelona’s chase for titles this season was doomed. Returning home after a 4-0 spanking at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, the Blaugrana  struggled to get all three points at home against lowly Leganes. In the four games since then, Barca have outscored their opponents 15-3, including an away win at Atletico Madrid, an opponent that has given them fits over the last few seasons.

Before the game against Atletico, Luis Enrique decided to ditch the club’s sacred 4-3-3, a formation that has been instrumental to Barcelona’s success dating back to 2008, when Pep Guardiola took the reins and transformed the club into a possession-dominating soccer machine. Lining up in the 3-4-3, Enrique’s men controlled the game against Atletico and haven’t looked back since.

Although the switch to a back three may have seemed somewhat counterintuitive after losing 4-0, change was badly needed, and to his credit Enrique was bold enough to do something. But let’s take a closer look at what Barca’s new formation does:

Takes advantage of the current personnel.  Barcelona have a handful of wing backs on their roster. Rafinha, Sergi Roberto, Denis Suarez and to a certain extent Ivan Rakitic are all fantastic two-way players, comfortable playing wide and covering a ton of ground to provide support to the world-class Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar forward line. They’re also very capable without the ball, whether they need to pressure the opponent or provide support to the back line.

The experiment of playing Sergi Roberto as a true right back has failed. Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti provide enough safety down the middle, and so the big question at the back is whether the third center-back should be a more natural defender like Jeremy Mathieu or even Javier Mascherano, or a more adventurous player like Jordi Alba. It looks like that will be a game-by-game decision depending on the opponent and player form. What’s certain is that the three-man back line allows Rafinha, Sergi Roberto and Denis Suarez to play a key role on the wings, and doesn’t force them to play a role to which they’re not suited.

Numerical superiority in the midfield. Any well thought out game plan aims to create numerical superiority in certain areas of the pitch. With the 3-4-3, Barcelona now have an additional player in midfield, which helps them to break down the defensive lines set up by most opponents against them. The Andres Iniesta-Xavi midfield magic belongs to a bygone era, and evidently the work of those two men can only be supplanted by an additional midfield player, which brings me to the final point.

Barcelona need a plan for the post-Iniesta era. San Andres is about to turn 33. That may not sound terribly old, but he’s a creative midfielder who’s been tearing apart opposing defenses for over a decade for both club and country — that’s a lot of wear and tear. So far, none of the La Masia wonder kids seem to be able to fill Iniesta’s cleats. That’s a testament to Iniesta’s genius more than it’s an indictment to the talent coming out of the Barcelona academy, but the fact remains that with one of the cornerstones of Barca’s old 4-3-3 in decline, a new system was necessary. Relying a bit more on athleticism and speed down the flanks, while providing an extra body in the middle, seems to be a viable, working option.

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The 3-4-3 has been revitalized throughout Europe, with Chelsea employing the same formation in the Premier League to a great degree of success. Barcelona have a lot of soccer remaining ahead of them this season, and it appears that the three-man backline was a welcome change to a team that seemed to have lost its way.