This data is taken from games between these teams and Barcelona in 2010. Says it all!
Barca v Arsenal
Barca won 3:1
We were told constantly before the game that Arsenal against Barcelona was a clash of two sides who play football ‘the right way’ – short, quick passes from excellent technical players comfortable in possession. And that proved to be correct, although this graph shows a stark contrast between the sides.
Xavi’s dominance on the field of play transfers to an incredible dominance on this graph, with Sergio Busquets not far behind. The fact that Barcelona have the top 8 players in this graph rather sums up the way the game went.
Barca v Inter
Barca won 1:0
Even taking into account the fact that it’s Barcelona we’re dealing with, these passing statistics really are quite incredible.
Only the two players who didn’t complete the game – Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Abidal – break the pattern that every Barcelona player completed more passes than every Inter player.The graph again shows the incredible influence Xavi has on games, and it’s getting to the point where it would be a huge shock if he played in a game and didn’t complete by far and away the most number of passes.
