Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde went back to his days as Athletic Bilbao manager as the La Liga champions escaped with a narrow 1-0 win away to Real Valladolid on Saturday night. Barça played awful football for most of the match, but scored a goal in their period of dominance and needed help from the Video Assistant Referee to avoid conceding a last-second equalizer. Yay.
FIRST HALF
Valladolid set up in a very narrow, compact formation designed to shut down Barça’s midfield and force them to play on the wing.