What went wrong for Barcelona? Pere Romeu's tactics explained after UWCL loss

Barcelona arrived into the Champions League final against Arsenal as heavy favourites - so what went wrong in Lisbon?

Credit: Getty Images

Eindhoven, Bilbao, Lisbon.

Barcelona’s dream of a three-peat at the European stage came crashing down when Arsenal, against all odds, beat them 1-0 in the final of the Champions League on Saturday. With this, the Gunners became two-time European champions, winning the title again after 18 long years, ending Lyon and Barcelona’s duopoly in the last decade.

Barcelona were playing their 100th UWCL game against the same opponent they played their first ever game against in the competition. Five finals, three trophies later, it all finished in a similar way to their first game. A win for Arsenal.

Renee Slegers sledgehammered Pere Romeu’s Barcelona with her setup, restricting them to a mere 0.9 xG (expected goals) in the game, their lowest in any game this season. A mere five shots on target was Barcelona’s joint lowest tally in any game this season (also vs Man City). Their non-penalty xG per shot, which signifies average chance quality, was their lowest in any game this season (0.04 npxG per shot).

They let them have the ball but strangled them for space with their setup, keeping them to a pass completion rate of 84.1%, their joint fourth lowest this season. Only recording a lower rate against Sevilla (83.3% in 1-0 W), Man City (83.4% in 0-2 L) and Real Madrid (83.7% in 1-3 L). The defending champions were forced to cross the ball 35 times, their second most in any UWCL game this season (49 vs St. Polten).

Let’s take a look at what Arsenal did and what Barcelona could have done differently in the final.