10

9
9

10
Athletic Bilbao press in a 1-4-2-2-2 with two 6s, two 10s, and two 9s. The ball-far 9
occupies Busquets so you could argue they have three 10s, but in possession they
definitely play with two 9s

One of Athletics #9s, Aduriz, would start his run to the

left of Ter Stegen (GK) and angle his run in order to put
Pique in his cover shadow and force play to Barcelonas
left side.
In this situation, their other #9, Eraso, would cover
shadow Busquets in order to take the integral build-up
player out as a passing option

Bilbao then waits for Barcelona to play into wide areas before their intense
pressing begins. Here you see the ball-near 10 press Barcas left back while the
ball near 9 is occupying Barcas left center-back.

Bilbao has their ball-far 6 occupy Busquets to continue taking him out as an
option. The ball-near 6 for Bilbao presses high onto Barcas #8 and the ball-far 10
stays high and shifts towards the ball to maintain compactness while also cover
shadowing Pique to take away the option of a big switch.

The #9s were tasked with making it difficult for Ter Stegen to play to his CBs. Notice how they
position themselves on both sides of Ter Stegen close enough to press the CBs. This forced Ter
Stegen to play chipped passes to his outside backs in order to build up

Even though Ter Stegen was capable of playing these passes, Bilbao knew that was a possibility
and their ball-far 10 was ready to press aggressively into the wide areas on the Barca RB

Here you see the result of Ter Stegen playing the RB on a chipped pass. The ball far (now
ball near) 10 presses intensely in the wide area

Busquets

You can also see the 9s movements once they are bypassed. The previously ball-far 9
quickly sprints over to occupy Busquets while the ball-near 9 maintains access to Barcas
RCB

Moments before Ter Stegen gave Bilbao their best chance of the game, you can see how Bilbaos movements forced him to
play into Busquets who was being intensely followed and pressed.

Following Ter Stegens give away you can see how Bilbaos pressing allows them to win the ball back so close to goal and
because their 9s are cover shadowing the CBs, the CBs also cannot do anything about this give-away, but hope for a save

Another image of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements and how they eliminated nearly every passing option while
overloading Ter Stegen to make a decision under intense pressure

An example of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements

Another example of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements

A third example of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements

A fourth example of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements

A final example of Athletic Bilbaos pressing movements

An was
example
of Athletic
Bilbaos pressing
movements
When Bilbao
bypassed,
they dropped
into a very
compact 4-4-1-1 shape