BARCELONA. FC Barcelona defeated Almería. FC Barcelona was much superior in terms of ball possession (65%) and that was among the factors of its victory.
The match was played at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys stadium in Barcelona on Wednesday and it started at 7:00 pm local time. In front of 34,471 spectators. The referee was Guillermo Cuadra Fernández with the support of Guadalupe Porras Ayuso and Alejandro Estévez Iglesias. The 4th official was Sergio Escriche Guzmán. The weather was clear sky. The temperature was cold at 11.68 degrees Celsius or 53.02 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 60%.
Match Statistics
- ! 65 Ball Possession 35
Shots
- 30 Total 10
- 11 On Target 5
- 14 Off Target 4
- 5 Shots blocked 1
- 142 Attack 58
- 60 Dangerous attack 25
- 85 Ball safe 85
- 0 Penalties 0
- 12 Corners 0
- 3 Off Sides 3
Fouls
- 11 Total 7
- 3 Yellow Cards 3
- 0 Double Yellow 0
- 0 Red Card 0
Other
- 4 Substitutions 3
Ball possession
FC Barcelona had a strong ball possession 65% while Almería was struggling with a 35% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
FC Barcelona was more pushing with 60 dangerous attacks and 30 shots of which 11 were on target. This is one of the reasons why FC Barcelona won the match.
FC Barcelona shot 30 times, 11 on target, 14 off target. On the other side, Almería shot 10 times, 5 on target, 4 off target.
Cards
FC Barcelona received 3 yellow cards (Raphinha, Ronald Araújo and Andreas Christensen). Regarding the opposition, Almería received 3 yellow cards (Iddrisu Baba, Alejandro Pozo and Dion Lopy).
Match Timeline
Standings
After this match, FC Barcelona has 38 points to hold in the 3rd place. Regarding the opposition, Almería will stays with 5 points to sit in the 20th place.
Next matches
In the next match in the La Liga, FC Barcelona will play away with Las Palmas on the 3rd of January with a 3-0 head to head statistic in favor of FC Barcelona (3 draws).
Almería will play away against Osasuna on the 3rd of January with a 11-6 head to head in favor of Osasuna (4 draws).
FC Barcelona – Formation
FC Barcelona
46'
21'
60', 83'
FC Barcelona started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).
The manager Xavier Hernández Creus decided to play with the following team: Pedri, Iñaki Peña , João Cancelo , Ronald Araújo , Andreas Christensen , Alejandro Balde , Fermín López , İlkay Gündoğan , Sergi Roberto , Raphinha , Robert Lewandowski and João Félix .
The home team had on the bench: Oriol Romeu , Jules Koundé , Ferran Torres , Ander Astralaga, Lamine Yamal , Marc Casadó, D. Kochen, Pau Cubarsí, Unai Hernández, Marc Guiu, Héctor Fort and Pau Prim.
Substitutions
FC Barcelona made 4 changes: Fermín López for Oriol Romeu (67′), Andreas Christensen for Jules Koundé (46′), João Félix for Ferran Torres (46′) and Raphinha for Lamine Yamal (76′).
Player of the match: Raphinha
As per our analysis, the most impressive player for FC Barcelona was Raphinha.
His rating is with 1 goal, 28 passes (79% accurate) and 7 key passes. He performed 13 crosses.
Almería – Formation
Almería
Almería started with a 5-3-2 line-up (5-3-2).
Gaizka Garitano Aguirre played with: Luís Maximiano , Alejandro Pozo , Chumi , César Montes , Edgar González , Sergio Akieme , Iddrisu Baba , Dion Lopy , Largie Ramazani , Sergio Arribas , Léo Baptistão .
The following players were sitting on the bench: Adrián Embarba , Diego Mariño, Kaiky, Arnau Puigmal, Fernando Martínez, Lázaro , Álex Centelles, Houboulang Mendes , Marcos Pena, Rachad Fettal Dhimi and Marciano Sanca.
Substitutions
Almería made 3 changes: Alejandro Pozo for Houboulang Mendes (64′), Largie Ramazani for Adrián Embarba (77′) and Léo Baptistão for Lázaro (77′).
Player of the match: Luís Maximiano
The player that probably impressed the most for Almería was the goalkeeper: Luís Maximiano. His rating is 8.16. He performed 8 saves.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the La Liga.
- Villarreal – Celta de Vigo – 3-2
- FC Barcelona – Almería – 3-2
- Athletic Club – Las Palmas – 1-0
