FC Barcelona vs Granada : Five things we learned
By Vijay Vemu
3. Fullbacks making noise on the wings for Barca
In both of Luis Suarez’s goals in the first half, he got great service from fullbacks Jordi Alba and Dani Alves. Both were pushing up on the pitch and creating problems on the wings. Especially Alves, who sometimes plays more as a winger than a fullback. Both were able to find overlapping runs on both Neymar and Messi for both of the goals. Then all they had to do was put the ball on a plate to Suarez, who grabbed both goals. It was classic Barcelona as they cut through Granada like they weren’t even there.
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It had its risks as pushing up the pitch leaves you exposed on defense, as Alves saw with the chance by Fran Rico in the second half. But with the Catalans style of play, that rarely happens.
It has been an especially good season for Dani Alves who has come back after a rough season last year. Many thought that the Brazilian right back was passed his prime but he proved the doubters wrong once again. With the arrival of Aleix Vidal, Alves was under a lot of pressure to perform week in and week out knowing one bad performance could see him lose his starting spot. He stepped beautifully.
Next: 2. Luis Suarez