Revealed! How Steven Gerrard used Borna Barisic to help Rangers exploit Celtic's tactical weaknesses
While the game and occasion may be huge, it is often a series of smaller, key clashes that are fought all across the pitch which ensure Old Firm bragging rights.
Judging by his side’s performance on Saturday, that’s a point that Gers boss Steven Gerrard understands all too well.
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Hide AdRangers made a concerted effort to try and direct the game into certain areas of the pitch against the Hoops, knowing where their own strengths lay and the weak points in Neil Lennon’s team that could be exploited.
In particular, the continued emphasis on using Borna Barisic as an outlet illustrated perfectly just how well-prepared Gerrard’s men were going into this game.
The Croatian full-back lined up opposite Jeremie Frimpong, a player who he has an 11cm height advantage over. And the Gers repeatedly used Barisic’s aerial advantage as a means of kickstarting their attacks.
The Ibrox man won six out of the seven aerial duels he contested on Saturday, giving him a success rate of 86%, as per Wyscout.
As a point of reference, that figure is 18% higher than his overall average this season.
In particular, as shown in the graphic above, Barisic contested over half of his aerial duels on or around the halfway line.
When we then compare that image with a selection of the forward passes that Allan McGregor made over the course of the match, we can see a deliberate effort to distribute balls into those higher, wide areas where Barisic, and James Tavernier on the other flank, were waiting.
For the left-back, it meant that he was consistently able to push back his opposite number and operate in a slightly more advanced position throughout.
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Hide AdBarisic’s heat map from Parkhead on Saturday shows that the majority of his play came on the cusp of Celtic’s defensive third. By comparison, his heat map from the 4-0 win over Willem II last month shows a player who spent more time in his own defensive zone.
Despite his more advanced post, Barisic spent less time looking to get into the kind of attacking positions we have come to associate him with, putting in just one cross against the Bhoys – a notable drop-off from his season average of 6.82 per 90 minutes.
This too seemed to be a deliberate tactical choice from Gerrard. Instead of getting his full-backs to bomb on in their usual manner, there appeared to be a greater emphasis on getting to a certain point of the pitch and then holding their position as a means of containing Celtic’s wide threat.
It’s no coincidence that Frimpong completed just one successful dribble all game – a considerable decrease from his season average of 4.3.
There were a number of individually impressive performances dotted all over the pitch for Gerrard’s men, whether it was James Tavernier’s similarly dependable showing on the other flank or Alfredo Morelos’ busy display leading the line, but the way in which Barisic altered his game to dominate the battle against Frimpong was not only a fine illustration of his own talents, but also a ringing endorsement of his manager’s tactical knowhow.