Match Analysis: Inter, Barca & Rennes Streaks End

Lecce, Villarreal and Marseille are the headline-makers as WhoScored takes our regular early-week look at those significant streaks that have been brought to an end over the past weekend. Lecce’s shock home win over Inter saw the visitors fail to pick up the three points for the first time in eight Serie A matches. Rennes taste defeat at home for the first time this season at the hands of in-form Marseille, while Villarreal’s goalless draw with Barcelona was the first time since November that Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to find the net:

Unhappy Return for Sneijder - Match Centre

Having been out of Inter’s starting lineup for a couple of months due to a thigh injury, Wesley Sneijder’s return came at a cost on Saturday. In his absence, Inter had flourished, with Claudio Ranieri favouring a 4-4-2 system with Ricky Alvarez on the left. The visitors came into this game on the back of a seven-match winning run but Ranieri’s decision to start with a 4-3-1-2, accommodating Sneijder behind a front two and benching Alvarez, failed to make a difference. Despite swapping the pair at half-time, Ranieri watched his side fail to recover after going behind just before the break, as Lecce picked up their first home win of the season.

The blame for the loss doesn’t fall at Sneijder’s door, though. Inter completely dominated the match, with 63% possession, but simply failed to make their superiority pay. As the average position map shows, though, Lecce seemed content in sitting deep and allowing Inter the ball, with only two of the homes side’s players stationed outside their own half.

Maicon produced a stand-out display from right-back- the Brazilian made 58 passes, 10 crosses and provided 3 key passes for his team mates without any success. Esteban Cambiasso’s 69 passes were the most in the game, with 2 key passes and a couple of through balls setting up opportunities. Sneijder also made 2 key passes, in addition to 42 passes. Given that Alvarez made 1 key pass and 13 passes in comparison, it’s clear that the Dutchman had an influential first half.

Inter just edged it for tackles, by 22 to 21, showing a determination to quickly win the ball back and disrupt Lecce’s ability to keep possession. Lucio was immense at the back, making 4 tackles, 4 interceptions, 11 clearances and a blocked shot for a WhoScored rating of 8.04. Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti made 7 tackles between them in central midfield, while Alvarez’s work-rate impressed, with 3 tackles in his forty-five minutes.

For the home side, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and Davide Brivio – wing-backs in the Lecce 3-5-2 – made more tackles than any teammate. Brivio produced 5 from the left flank, while Cuadrado managed 4 tackles and 3 interceptions, in addition to a couple of shots and 2 key passes from the right; no surprise 44% of attacks came down his side of the pitch.

A look at the shot count again illustrates Inter’s inability to hammer home their superiority. Ranieri’s side had 22 shots to their host’s 6 but managed just 6 shots on target to Lecce’s 3. Much of this was down to the decision to shoot from distance - 55% of their attempts came from outside the box. Diego Milito had something of a nightmare game. The Argentine had 3 shots, all off target, and lost possession 8 times, the most of any player. Giampaolo Pazzini and Walter Samuel both managed 4 shots, with 2 on target, and the latter also hit the woodwork. Sneijder and Alvarez had 5 shots between them but Inter were faced with a defiant display by Massimiliano Benassi in the Lecce goal. The keeper made 6 saves and 5 good claims to keep Ranieri’s side at bay and picked up the WhoScored man of the match award, with a rating of 8.18.

More Away Day Blues for Barca - Match Centre

Pep Guardiola’s side may have dropped just two points at the Nou Camp all season but their stalemate at Villarreal continues a run of unimpressive away form that has seen them win just 4 times on the road this term. Having scored in every one of their previous 14 games in all competitions (racking up 52 goals in the process) the champions were strong favourites but, with Villarreal losing just once at home all season, their task proved a difficult one.

Barca, as expected, had the vast majority of possession (63%). Xavi was again the main creator; the midfielder made 73 passes, with 4 key passes and 6 accurate long balls, but his efforts came to nothing as Barca failed to convert. Dani Alves and Eric Abidal were unable to provide much creativity from out wide. The full-backs made 70 and 69 passes respectively but produced a single key pass between them, though Alves was instrumental in their offensive threat. Barca attacked down the right 44% of the time, with the average position map showing just how far forward Alves (2) played - only two teammates were further ahead of him when in possession.

The visitors simply seemed off-form and the stats back this up further; Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi made 123 between them and failed to create a single goal scoring opportunity. Bruno made the most passes (45) for the home side, a tally that was beaten by eight of Guardiola’s outfield ten.

Villarreal made the most tackles of the two, by 26 to 20. Their left flank was particularly busy; left-back Joan Oriol made 5 tackles and 7 interceptions, while winger Borja Valero made 2 tackles and 7 interceptions. Strangely, their centre-halves, Mateo Musacchio and Gonzalo, made just 1 tackle between them, though the duo also produced 12 interceptions to break up Barca’s attacks. Dani Alves was Barca’s stand-out player defensively, making 5 tackles and 3 interceptions.

There was a distinct lack of goal attempts overall, though. Despite all their possession, Barca fired just 12 shots to Villarreal’s 6, but managed 5 on target in comparison to the home side’s 2. Lionel Messi had a real off-day up front; the Argentine had 5 shots, but only 2 were on target - he also lost possession 5 times. Fabregas and Adriano – the other two in the front three - had just 3 shots between them all game. Similar to the Inter game, the home side had their keeper to thank for the result - Diego Lopez made 5 saves and 1 good claim, picking up the WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 8.1. Real Madrid were the only winners after this result, though; Jose Mourinho’s side are now 7 points clear at the top of La Liga.

Marseille Battle Past Rennes - Match Centre

Marseille arrived at Rennes on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run but, with Rennes yet to lose in front of their own fans, this looked likely to be a tough encounter. It proved to be precisely that, with the visitors only just edging possession with 51%.

Mathieu Valbuena saw the ball most for Marseille - starting front left in a 4-3-3, he drifted into central positions throughout, making 55 passes and 3 key passes, creating more than any player on the pitch. Yann M’Vila, playing in Rennes’ double-pivot, made the most passes (69) overall, also producing 13 long balls and 2 through balls.

The tackles flew in from both sides, with Marseille producing 33 to Rennes’ 30 and a total of eleven players making 4 or more tackles over the ninety minutes. For the home side, their double-pivot of M’Vila and Tongo Hamed Doumbia made 9 tackles and 9 interceptions between them, while the back-four racked up a combined 27 clearances. Jean Armel Kana Biyik was particularly dominant in the air, winning 4 aerial duels, in addition to 5 interceptions.  Alou Diarra was the most impressive Marseille player defensively - sitting deep in front of the back-four, the midfielder made 7 tackles and 2 interceptions.

With both teams producing such strong defensive performances, the attacking stats are less impressive. Marseille just shaded the shot count 9 to 8 but had just 2 on target, scoring with one, while the other was an own goal. Rennes had 8 efforts, with 3 on target producing a single goal.

Jires Kembo-Ekoko and Loïc Remy had 3 shots each for their respective sides and were the greatest goal threat for Rennes and Marseille respectively, but neither managed a single effort on target. In the end, the visitors were helped to victory by their opponents’ centre-back and ancorman - Onyekachi Apam scored an own goal, while an error from Tongo Hamed Doumbia proved costly, as Marseille ground out a 2-1 win to end Rennes’ unbeaten home run to move up to fifth.