da 888： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da lvbet： It’s nearly time for Barcelona’s second game of the Champions League group stage.
The Catalans will welcome Inter Milan at the Camp Nou and the key to overcoming them just might lie in the middle of the park.
On the chalkboard
It hasn’t really been a dream start for Barcelona in Europe this season.
Their opening clash against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park ended in a goalless draw but the Catalans surely wanted to claim more than just a point for their efforts.
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Still, that was only the first game and seeing how Inter Milan also drew their game with Slavia Prague, Group F is very much open.
This particular clash, however, is huge for both teams and if Barca want to pick up all three points, Sergio Busquets will have to outshine Marcelo Brozovic.
Midfield generals
Busquets is very much the linchpin of Barcelona’s midfield.
In many ways, the experienced Spaniard is the Catalans’ general and everything starts and ends with him in the middle of the park. But Brozovic certainly looks like Busquets’ direct counterpart in Inter’s camp.
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The Croat is heavily involved in everything that’s happening on the pitch and most of it flows directly through him.
Just this season, in the six games he’s played in Serie A, Brozovic has registered a 91.5% passing accuracy with a total of 83.8 passes per game. This becomes even more impressive when we compare it to Busquets’ 90.6% passing accuracy and 76.8 passes per game.
Barcelona are very much known for their passing game, which only emphasises Brozovic’s importance to his team since he managed to edge out Busquets in both aforementioned categories.
But the Croat falls short only slightly in key passes as he tallied 1.2 as opposed to his rival’s 1.4 per game.
Both players are pretty active going the other way as well, often dominating the defensive phases of the game. Busquets registered 2.6 tackles and one interception per game in La Liga while Brozovic averaged 3.2 tackles and 1.8 interceptions under his belt in Serie A.
By all standards, this is looking likely to be an impressive battle of two highly skilled players – Barcelona’s midfield general vs Inter Milan’s engine.
The winner of this battle just might tip the scales in his team’s favour.